


One of These Things

by SchmetterlingMaus



Category: Codename: Kids Next Door
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bottom Wally, Dom/sub Undertones, Extremely Dubious Consent, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Issues, Jealousy, Knotting, M/M, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Sex, Scent Marking, Scenting, Self-Harm, Semi-Public Sex, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, Top Nigel, Virgin Wally, sexually naive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2019-08-02 10:32:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 38,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16303499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchmetterlingMaus/pseuds/SchmetterlingMaus
Summary: The team wakes up in a plot too similar to SAW. They don't know who their captor is and if they don't play a game, they will die, but too soon that game becomes focused on one team member. It quickly becomes apparent that Wally's been keeping a secret and their lives depend on what he can do for the team.Nigel wants Wally to trust him in return.





	1. Chapter 1

“Wally,” Nigel growled, irritated as fuck! Wally was too busy trying to climb up the slick wall to contribute to the main reason they were being held prisoner in something that closely resembled the horror movie; Saw. “Jesus, Wally! Would you stop!”

Wally slammed his hands against the glass wall of his cage. “What Nigel? I’m trying to get us out of here while you and the team are in the middle of your la-de-dah tea party!”

 _“One of these things are not like the other!”_ The taunt echoed in Nigel’s head.

“Do you mind contributing to the game?” Nigel pointed a finger at the camera that blinked in each one of their glass prisons. The space was roughly ten by ten feet in width and the glass top overhead was out of reach. The sides were held together by heavy duty rubber and the glass itself was thick. 

Wally was sweating from his efforts as he paced like a caged mountain lion. “I’m not playing this stupid confession game. I never liked twenty questions.”

“You have five more minutes and I’m still not convinced you want to live.” The voice that came over the tiny black speaker in Nigel’s cage was obviously generated by a voice configurator.

It was hard to tell if he was dealing with a male or female. There was a long list of people they’d pissed off over the years, but very few of them had the financial backing for this elaborate scheme. 

Why torture them? Why not just kill them? 

Water started to pour in from the cylinder tube connected into the only opening in the glass box, overhead. It started off as a light drizzle, more like a leaky faucet. The shape of it reminded him of a firefighter hose, which meant things were about to get ugly.

“Come on, Wally! We all threw out confessions!” Kuki growled, also up against the glass. At this point, they had very little in their ball court. 

“These aren’t confessions! You’re pointing out obvious things that we already know! That’s not the same as saying; _I cheated on my SAT_ or _I snort cocaine so I won’t sleep for days_ or _I punctured the tires on a bully’s car_! Those are confessions.” 

“That’s an outburst, actually,” Hoagie commented, so low that if it wasn’t for the microphone in each box, his voice would’ve been lost. 

Wally’s laugh came out exhausted. He wiped a hand over his sweaty face, pushing his hair back. “Okay. My confession. Huh… I’ve tried every drug except heroin. I locked my brother in the basement. I stole my parent’s car and raced it. And I’m scared as fuck about my goddamn future!”

That last was directed up at the box in the corner, complete with a middle finger salute. 

The water stopped flowing. Whatever Wally confessed had been the key to their assailants unwarranted attention. Which meant Wally was the real reason they were here. Now he had to figure out how he was going to save them.

At this point, the water was only at their shins, but with the rubber siding on their cages, it was clearly meant for a marine animal. Wally was pressed up against the corner with his body at an angle, not facing them. Of everyone present, his best friend was still scared of water, even after learning to swim. He wasn’t a strong swimmer and drowning had always been one of his biggest fears. 

“Congratulations Kids Next Door. You’ve graduated to the next level of our little game.” The voice spoke over the black box. The hose started to drip again. 

Nigel knew it wouldn’t be so easy. “Let’s stop with the games. What do you really want?”

“By now, you’ve figured this out. The game really isn’t for you all, so you can sit back and relax now,” the voice answered.

In the sudden silence, Wally perked up. A second later, he pushed away from the corner and looked like he was growling and flipping out at the speaker. It would’ve been comical if the situation wasn’t so dire. Not a sound came through though—

“Darnit! It’s broken.” Kuki stood with her hands pressed up against the glass. They all did, trying to figure out what was going on in Wally’s box. 

Nigel perked up, glancing at his team. “No, I heard you. Can you hear me?”

His crew threw him a thumbs up, which meant only Wally’s device was detached. He was deeply uncomfortable with how hyper-focused their abductors were with Wally. And Wally wasn’t fairing so well from the personal conversation.

It was clear that whatever was being said caused a great deal of stress. Wally paced the small cage, kicking up water, between aggressive arguing. The water started to flow in their cages and Wally snapped around to watch, looking dumbstruck with fear. 

Nigel glanced from the rising level of water in his containment box to see Wally actually begging. He couldn’t hear it, but he could see the fear in his friend’s tight shoulders. He looked so small. Nigel glanced at his crew. They all did.

A second later, the water stopped. 

“Congratulations. Your hitter has agreed to play our little game. Your survival is now determined by his sheer willpower. You all speak so highly of him, his ability to take a lot of stress, a lot of pain to win. Let’s see how right you are.” The voice mocked their captured state.

Torture! This was growing sicker by the second. 

“No! I’m the captain. If you have a problem with my team, it’s me you need to deal with.” Nigel yelled at nothing. It felt ridiculous focusing on the tiny black box with built in camera. His attention was on Wally. 

The tiny glass square at the top of Wally’s box was opened and a white medical case was dropped inside. The entire interaction was short and didn’t give him a glimpse of who they were dealing with. They had a potentially long list, having went from the Kids Next Door into the Teen Alliance. There was a decade plus of history there to unravel. 

“I can’t sit here and watch Wally hurt himself,” Kuki complained. Her sentiment was mirrored by a couple of grumbles, but Nigel wasn’t so sure with all the commotion in his own head, if he heard what anyone else said. 

“Wally, hey buddy,” Abby’s voice was deceptively calm. She used this tone when dealing with potential informants that were ready to jump off the side of a building to escape capture. “What’s in the case?”

Wally made no indication that he heard them as he sat against the wall, watching the case float. That paralysis didn’t last too long before he slowly pushed away from the wall and made the even slower trek to retrieve the bobbing white case. He cradled it when he popped open the lid and studied the contents inside.

The entire event was maddening. Every lingering second allowed Nigel’s imagination to produce a worse scenario. He pinched his eyes shut and tried to quiet his brain. They needed a way out. That’s the only solution to this nightmare.

“I think we have a right to know what this is about, all things considered.” He believed Wally would do everything in his power to keep them alive. His best friend was loyal like that, but even Wally would have his limits. 

“You should ask your hitter. His communicator isn’t blocked.” The voice answered with a hint of humor in its town. Of course, their abductor would be happy. Wally had agreed to the game. 

“I ain’t playing with you Wally. What the hell do you have in that box?” Abby hissed, slamming her open palm against the glass. The sound was faint through the intercom. 

Wally looked up at her, then Hoagie and Kuki, leaving Nigel last. Those green eyes looked haunted. He rolled his shoulders and stood a little straighter before popping the box open and turning it around, so they could see it. Inside the cushioned box were four syringes. From the distance, he couldn’t make out the tiny details, like how much liquid was in each syringe. 

“What is it?” Nigel was starting to get impatient with the massive amount of questions that kept rising and the very lackluster desire Wally had in supplying the details on his own.

Wally pulled a syringe out and tucked the closed box under his arm. He turned his back on them, faced the camera and pulled his shirt up, giving his first injection straight into his stomach like an insulin shot. Nigel felt his temper rising. Again, the worst scenarios were filtering through his brain; toxic waste, acid, a highly addictive street drug, etc. 

“Wally, I swear to God if you don’t start talking,” Nigel threatened. It was an empty threat, given the space between them. He couldn’t do anything but pray he wouldn’t drown in the next hour. 

“It’s a simple game. No skills or wits needed. It’s absolutely perfect for someone like me.” There was a pent-up anger underlining that comment. 

“I have no idea why you’re angry with me,” Nigel said.

Wally rolled his eyes and went to the side of his cage, sinking down into the foot of water with his back against the glass. His friend had closed himself off from the group.

“I swear to everyone listening, that kid needs a spanking!” Abby softly chastised. She said that a few times with Wally, had even brought it up more than a few times during their private meetings, but never in all their time together, did Nigel finally, very much agree with the sentiment. 

“At least trust us, Wally, like we trust you,” Kuki said.

Wally shifted his weight to look at her, then sighed. “Okay! Look. Every hour that I can withstand the effects of the drugs in the needle, one of you will be released and during that time, water will be added to the rest of the tanks.”

Enough said. If Wally succumbed to the drugs, they would drown. His hitter wasn’t lying about the rules being simple. 

“What’s in the syringes?” Nigel and Hoagie asked at the same time. Hoagie threw him a shrug. 

Wally shook his head. “Nothing important.”

“It’s important if our lives depend on you being able to deal with whatever is going into your veins,” Abby said. She never had to argue with Wally. Whatever she said, always got him to give. 

“It’s a hybrid-heat inducer, okay. Military grade for prisoners of war, at least that’s what he said.” He threw his hand holding the now recapped syringe, up at the box overhead before putting said syringe back into the box.

“That doesn’t make sense. What would a heat inducer do to an alp- Oh….” Hoagie’s comment followed a long pause of silence. They were all piecing the little hints together. 

_One of these things is not like the other_ Jesus, Wally was an omega!

“When did you present?” Nigel’s anger completely dissipated when his best friend shivered. 

Wally looked a whole lot smaller now. He wasn’t as broad as he appeared a moment ago, and not nearly as strong. Had the whole thing been a happy façade that he willingly bought into, because that’s what he wanted for his friend. Alphas had it a lot easier; a hell of a lot less gender inequality issues. 

“It doesn’t matter. The cat’s out of the bag and this is being broadcasted. According to No-Face, there is a bidding war.” Wally vaguely indicated the camera blinking over his head. 

Jesus. Wally could get claimed today and there would be nothing they could do about it. First alpha come, first alpha served as far as omega ownership went.

The silence stretched with Nigel staring hard at his friend for the slightest sign of an impending heat. Wally remained unchanged and the buzzer went off. 

“Who do you want released Wally?” the voice asked. 

Wally didn’t look at any of them. “Hoagie.”

Nigel inwardly nodded, agreeing to the decision. Though their technician had been in the field, he had no torture training. The top of his glass cage was opened and a rope ladder was dropped in.

“Hurry Hoagie before you forfeit your freedom,” the voice said. Hoagie stayed long enough for all of them to yell for him to go and then he went up the ladder. There were three of them now and Wally pulled another needle from the case and he slid it into his stomach before recapping it. 

“They’ve been talking to you. What do they want?” Kuki asked. She had both hands pressed against the glass. Her black hair, though in a high bun, had loose, wet strands around her oval face.

Wally shook his head. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m doing exactly what they want.”

Someone had to be pretty pissed at Wally to take things this far. The list wasn’t small, but he could narrow it to three men who would benefit having Wally preoccupied, but this was more about keeping score. 

“His body will never be able to regulate four injections,” Abby said. The glass cases were situated in a semi-circle and the voice box made it easy to communicate, but the conversation was no longer private. 

One of them was going to die and it had to be Nigel. He was the leader. He had to go down with the ship. He glanced up at the square at the top of the glass confinement that had to be used to get them inside. They’d woken in the boxes, so he had nothing to go on with the setup of their prison.

“I can handle this. No one is going to die.” Wally spoke with conviction, turning to face them for a second. His blond hair had gotten longer and from primary to high school, he’d managed to shave the sides and spike the hair straight up. It was charming and matched his personality when he growled. 

“With the inducer in his system, he’s not going to be able to consent to knotting. They’re going to claim him, Nigel.” Abby followed the comment with a very concise hand gesture they’d made as children. It was rudimentary and meant _take_ usually followed with a right or left hand, as in, _take right and I’ll take left_. 

The gesture was utterly their own and created by a fourth grader mindset, which meant no rhyme or reason. She added another gesture that there was no real meaning to, but still made sense as she slapped her hands together. She was saying _strong take_ as in, _he had to knot and claim Wally_. 

To his surprise, Kuki made the same gesture, just as hard and nodded her head. This shouldn’t have been a vote, but it did ease his conscious that two other alphas agreed with this. No one out there would understand Wally the way he did. They wouldn’t appreciate how complicated the omega could be.

He glanced over at his hitter. Wally was in his own world and hadn’t seen the non-verbal conversation going on behind his back. Could he do this? Absolutely. He should feel far guiltier about that than he did. 

Wally already looked downtrodden. He kept his back in the corner with his head leaning upward, staring at the hole in his ceiling, similar to the rest of their aquarium cages.

Nigel paced in his small box, slushing through kneecap high water, trying to stay warm. A shiver ran through him when he stayed dormant too long. It wasn’t ice water, but the darkness lent to a number of factors that made the temperature of the water lower his temperature considerably. 

“How are you holding up, kid? What are you feeling?” Abby asked.

Wally looked stiff and achy, rolling his shoulders. “I feel nauseous, but I don’t think it has anything to do with the shot.”

Abby chuckled. “You’re doing good kid. You have got to be the most stubborn person I’ve ever met. Anyone lesser would not be able to withstand that much junk in their system.” 

After what felt like a lifetime, the buzzer rattled the quiet. Wally didn’t wait for the question. “Kuki.”

Kuki opened her mouth to protest, but Nigel cut her off. “Go Kuki. We’ll catch up in a couple more hours.”

Her dark eyes met his and she gave a curt nod. There was no happiness in her when she climbed the rope. She wasn’t stupid. Their lives depended on Wally being able to take a high dose of inducers into his system.

There was no clue as to who was up there and what was going on. Once the door was dropped back in place over Kuki’s aquarium, the pipes started blasting water into their space, filling their aquariums with another foot of water, bringing it at waist level. He glanced over at Abby who wore the same worried expression he was sure he wore. 

Wally’s hands were shaking bad when he pulled out the next needle. He lifted his wet shirt only at an angle but with his back turned. He injected himself and slid the needle back into the case. He wasn’t looking so great. He sunk down against the glass looking haggard.

“How ya doing, Wally?” Abby asked. Her and Nigel both tried to keep their body temperature up by moving around in the water. It felt ridiculous, but it beat from shivering.

Wally took a big breath and suddenly he slipped under the water. He was like that for maybe forty-five seconds to a minute, came back up, sucked in air again and went back under. His Mohawk was ruined, but it was probably the lest of their best friend’s worries. Lord knows, it was the lest of Nigel’s. 

“Maybe he feels his body temperature rising,” Abby said in answer to the look Nigel threw her. There were a few signs Wally might be feeling, if he recognized them; hotter skin, racing sexual obsessions like being knotted, a mind haze, etc. There were a few only they would recognize; like the dilated pupils, inability to properly communicate, hitched breathes and constant begging. 

“Is he too far gone?” Nigel asked, then glanced upward in answer, not at the cameras in the corner, but rather the pipes. No water came rushing in. Whatever Wally as feeling wasn’t the desired effect the captors were waiting for. 

Wally came back up, coughing and sputtering water, then held his breath and went back under. The hardheaded omega was trying to control his body temperature. He could almost guarantee that their abductors underestimated the things Wally would do to keep something like this from happening. 

“What happens when this stops working for him? How bad will his heat be with that much medication?” Nigel asked.

Abby frowned. “I don’t know. The first two syringes could have been diluted just to mess with all of us. It depends on what’s in the other syringes.”

Wally came above water again, choking as he hugged his knees and stared at nothing. Nigel wanted nothing more than to hold his best friend and feel his raised body temperature through their wet clothing. He couldn’t stand the thought of his best friend going into heat shock. He couldn’t stand his friend being alone, terrified and utterly awash with a heat he avoided for so long.

“Wally! Wally!” Nigel banged his hand against the wall trying to get his hitter’s attention when calling his name did nothing to snap him from the haze that looked to be setting in. “Look at us Wally! Look at me!” 

The buzzer sounded, startling Nigel who hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath. 

“Abby.” Wally’s voice was breathy. He slowly rocked himself with his arms wrapped around his legs. He looked more broken now then he had a minute ago. This was bad.

Abby glanced at Nigel. “This ain’t looking so good, Nigel.”

The trapdoor swung open and the ladder was dropped. Abby didn’t waste time with goodbyes. She climbed out and the water filled a little below his nose, forcing him to stand on his tiptoes and wade the water for a little more oomph. 

“Wally, can you hear me?” he asked. It took a long couple of seconds before the confirmation came in a very low, yes. He’d been so busy watching the water, that he hadn’t watched Wally take the fourth injection. “It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

“We’re in trouble, Nigel. I… I don’t know if I can last much longer.” Wally mumbled. 

The startled sob that followed, surprised Nigel. It broke his heart. “It’s okay, mate. You did good. You got the whole team out.”

Wally shifted to look at him with the empty syringe still in his hand. He pressed his face against the glass. “I feel so sick. It feels like my skin wants to wring the rest of me out. If I had seams, I’d cut them just for relief from all the pressure.”

“Where’s the pressure, kid?” Nigel asked, wadding. This was going to get exhausting fast. 

“It’s in my lower back and stomach.” Wally was pressed so hard against the glass. He shook his head and something in the movement told Nigel his best friend was crying. 

“Wally, don’t give up. Don’t give up,” Nigel pressed, he held his breath, so he could right himself and look at his friend through the glass. Wally wasn’t watching him. It was probably better that way. He tilted his head again, forced to stare up at the ceiling. “Wally, do you remember that time we all had to shave our heads because of lice. Who do you think was more pissed, Abby or Kuki?”

His little omega hitter chuckled sadly. “Kuki.”

“Kuki, yeah. I remember that better now. She walked around with a rainbow monkey on her head for months.”

“Don’t talk about the Rainbow Monkeys. She hates that story.” Wally still sounded so breathless. Wally curled in on himself.

“I’m coming for you, okay Wally. I’m going to come get you. You’re not alone in this.” Nigel promised. 

Wally was crying harder now. “I can’t. I can’t go into heat. I can’t.” 

Jesus, how did Wally get this fucked up about his gender? It made Nigel both angry and scared for his best friend.

“You want him out of commission? Fine! Let me knot him, you assholes! I’ll take him out of commission myself, but me, only me!” He was scared now, because there was no way Wally would deal with an alpha stranger. That stranger wouldn’t know how to keep Wally in line, or busy enough to keep him out of trouble. A creature like his hitter wasn’t suited for bare and pregnant in the kitchen. He wasn’t even suited for a domestic lifestyle. 

There was no answer and his body was starting to get exhausted holding him rigid on his tiptoes to keep his nose and mouth out of the water. He sank down into the murk. The dim light didn’t reflect down into the water, but with his face pressed against the glass, he could still see Wally’s aquarium.

The water had been drained from Wally’s prison and for a second, Nigel expected Wally had gone into heat and his own aquarium would be filling at any second. He came back up for breath to see that it hadn’t. He went back under to press his face against the glass again.

Two Teen Ninja figures jumped into the exhibit and were wrestling with Wally. One of them managed to get him to open his hand, but the murky water, the dim lighting and the distance was too difficult to gauge the details.

He felt the heavy current of water was something jumped into the exhibit with him. He spun, expecting another Teen Ninja. Instead, it was Abby. She backed off and they both came back to the surface, though it was a matter of wadding in the water. 

“I’m so glad you passed our physical exams for Teen Alliance Captain,” Abby stated. The exam she mentioned, was mostly taken from Coast Guard training. They did a little of everything in their physical exams to be field agents and he was already on the swim team in high school. It was a matter of exhaustion though, that would’ve caught up with him.

“Teen Ninjas are with Wally,” Nigel said, swimming towards the lowered ladder. It swung on it’s own with his weight as he climbed it. Once at the top, he realized the entire operation was now under Teen Alliance control. 

Over twenty Teen Ninjas were lined up against the wall with their arms and ankles tied. The two that had been in Wally’s room with him, were now being ushered up the ladder, but Hoagie stepped in his way before he could get to the ladder and down to Wally.

“Stop! I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go down there, man. Wally’s actually—” 

“Get to it!” Nigel growled. 

Hoagie straightened. “He has hurt himself pretty badly to keep from going into heat. He wasn’t wrong. The damaged nerves gave his body more to focus on— HEY!”

Nigel dropped down into the hole, bypassing the ladder. Wally was trying to push and kick the Teen Alliance agents away when Nigel squeezed between them. “Shhh, it’s me, Wally. Calm down. It’s just me.”

He caught Wally’s arms at the elbows. His arms were wrapped from his wrists up 3/4ths the length of his arm. Blood was already seeping through, which made Nigel afraid to grab him too roughly, but Wally was panicking. He ended up catching Wally at the scruff of his neck and pulled him in to the crook of his shoulder.

His best friend didn’t immediately stop struggling, but slowly, breath by agonizing breath, did he finally calm down. The only problem was, Nigel knew fully well why exactly this worked so well. There’d been more than a few times back as kids and even as teens, when Wally actually fell asleep on him. He never thought about it much, thinking that the alpha was just taking up space, but now, he realized it’d been his scent that calmed and pulled Wally into a lull. So much time wasted. 

He would have claimed Wally back in junior high when they were legal age to mate, if he’d known his best friend was an omega. Wally gave a shuddering breath that rocked his entire body.

“You did good, kid. We’re all okay. You protected us,” he encouraged, even though his hitter gave no notion that he was even in a state of awareness.

“We’re going to need to get the both of you to the medics,” one of the Teen Alliance Agents, a female he’d seen a few times at base, said.

It took a little work, but he managed to stand, supporting a great deal of Wally’s weight. He was going to need help getting Wally up the ladder, but he didn’t even need to ask. The team had already been discussing it while he calmed his best friend. 

Less than twenty minutes later, they were out of their prisons and leaving the old warehouse behind. His team sat in the back of the ambulance with him, all with a blanket over their shoulders, but Wally was laying on the gurney with a light sedative to keep him asleep until they got to the hospital and a specialized heat room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and the reads!! :)

“What was the administered dose on that sedative they gave him?” Nigel held Wally’s wrist, feeling his slow pulse. His skin burned hot though he shivered in his sleep. His wet clothes needed to come off as soon as they reached the hospital.

Abby sat on the bench seat, back against the wall and blanket around her shoulders. She looked as exhausted as he inwardly felt. “You know Wally. He’s not that agreeable when he’s angry. They probably gave him enough to keep him quiet until check-in.”

“When is he ever agreeable?” Hoagie huffed. There was no siren, which meant the unsettling quiet hung heavily in their boxed containment. At least they were all together.

The ambulance stopped and a second later, the back door was shoved open. They filtered out so the EMTs could push the gurney out. Abby nudged him and nodded with her chin towards officers heading in their direction. 

Alpha. Nigel could tell based off their grate. 

“Go inside with him. We can handle any of their questions.” Abby said. Nothing in her demeaner spoke of trouble. They all knew better then to draw more attention than they could afford, especially for the Alliance.

He barely caught Abby greeting the officers before the whooshing doors shut behind them. They passed the nurse station and several rooms with the curtains drawn. This early in the wee hours of morning made even the emergency a little calmer. 

They were ushered into their small space, a room that had walls and a door instead of a curtain. He fought the anxiety that seeped through the cracks in his psyche. This wasn’t the same thing as being caged. He was right next to his best friend and the rest of the team was safe.

Two nurses entered the room, looked at him first, then over to the soggy omega laying in bed. Nigel wasn’t willing to step two feet from his friend, so he was grateful when the betas didn’t request it. 

“Help get him sorted out and then you can get into dry scrubs,” the older blonde said. She wasn’t unfriendly, but the long nights had etched lines into her face, making her look older than she probably was. 

It was strange to hold Wally. He couldn’t remember more than twice when Wally had been so badly injured that he had to carry him from a mission to their getaway vehicle. Sure, Wally was smaller than average for an alpha, but never would he have guessed an omega; not with that fiery temper and knack for trouble. 

Butt naked; Wally was all long limbs and narrow torso. His blond pubic hairs were as wild and untamed as his personality. He had a small omega cock, flaccid and probably as soft as silk on the tongue. Thank God Wally’s parents didn’t believe in omega castration.

He shook the thought. This was his best friend. Was he bonkers?

Nigel braced himself, but nearly jumped out of his skin when the nurse gently touched his arm. He immediately released his possessive death grip on his unconscious friend. 

“Is it okay if we leave your omega naked? We can put a pad underneath to catch the slick, but the doctor is going to want to evaluate the situation.” The nurse offered a smile that she probably thought would calm him. 

It didn’t. He nodded and put his hands under Wally’s knees and back, lifting his solid friend. Wally wasn’t heavy, not by far, but he drank protein shakes and spent a lot of time at the gym to keep from being traditionally light. It felt good holding that weight and he couldn’t stop his brain from daydreaming about said weight balanced over him as Wally rode his thick cock.

Great! He was having a super hard go at staying neutral. 

Best friend or not; his body knew what it wanted. Their scents were compatible, but more than that, he’d always seen himself as the apex alpha of their little group, and his brain latched onto the notion of ownership. 

_I’m a modern alpha. Omega right…. Omega rights…. Omega rights…._

The nurse put the pads underneath and Nigel sat his friend back down, the betas dressed Wally in a flimsy hospital gown that tied at the neck, but the backend was completely open. They changed the bedsheets, stuck some leakage pads where Wally’s rump laid and then gave Nigel the privacy to change into navy scrubs and gave him hospital slippers since his shoes were wet. 

He was barely dressed before the door flung open and the nurses came back in with blankets out of the dryer and placed them on top of his friend. He should be grateful, but the entire situation left him feeling exposed. He read about this once, in a psyche magazine; how alphas had the misfortune of often misplacing their ownership attitude on close friends.

He had to fight this. Protect Wally, yes. But he couldn’t posture and stand guard, refusing to let the nurses enter the room.

And if he thought it was bad with the nurses, the feeling intensified when the doctor entered the room. The man was older than him, maybe early thirties. This was expected, since they weren’t at the Alliance base, where most of the people present were teenagers at varying ages. 

The doctor eyebrows raised for a half second, before settling on the chart in his hand to read over the report. He sat his chart down and came to the side of the bed, picking up Wally’s right hand and gently unraveled the bandage, already a brownish red from the drying blood that seeped through.

“What happened that made your omega cut himself?” Doctor Sulieman asked. He piled the bandages on the side of the bed and repeated his task with the other arm. 

The deep, angry red cuts started at the wrist and went all the way up his arm. One thing was clear; either Wally had planned to starve off his heat until backup arrived, or he had no intention of their captors making the best use of his body when he did go into heat. Both scenarios disturbed him.

Nigel swallowed the lump in the back of his throat. “Would you believe it if I said I walked in on the middle of this?”

Doctor Sulieman looked doubtful. He was a beta or wearing beta blockers, it was hard to tell, but Nigel leaned towards beta. He pulled out his stethoscope and listened to his heart, then checked the electrocardiogram machine. “His heartrate is normal. I can get stitches in place, but you’re going to have to stay until a psychologist has a chance to speak with your omega.”

“Understandable.” Nigel spoke with an authority he currently didn’t feel. His adrenaline started to ween, and exhaustion kicked into high gear. 

He pulled out his phone while the doctor and a nurse saw to Wally’s arms. _Need coffee before this headache sits in._

A response shot back instantly; _Hoagie has amphetamines. We both just took one. Better than coffee._

Thank the heavens for high quality, water-resistant technology. 

“These cuts are too deep for someone looking for attention,” the nurse commented under her breath. She worked in unison with the doctor, pinching Wally’s flesh. Fresh blood welled up from the wound as the black thread pulled his skin tight.

The doctor hummed with agreement and Nigel felt even more exhausted. Truth about their situation wouldn’t fix what the doctor saw, because it still boiled down to one premise; Wally had went this route to escape all other scenarios. The one friend in his life that chose battle over white flags, had chosen suicide over the fight.

The doctor stood upright, letting the nurse clear everything. “Mister Uno, when an omega in heat comes to us sedated, it usually means there are deeply rooted issues. We can keep him on anxiety medication, even depression medication, but it’s vital that we take care of his heat too.”

So much for dealing with one issue at a time.

In truth, Nigel wasn’t completely blind to the situation. Wally could have cut several places like the arch of his foot or the back of his leg. He chose both arms and those cuts were deep. They weren’t meant to distract his addled mind. He had every intention of killing himself.

That stung the worst.

“What would you suggest for his heat?” Nigel asked. 

It was heart wrenching that Wally’s inner arms had thick black stitches keeping the puckered red skin together. People would be asking him about the scars for the rest of his life. 

“I would suggest you _take_ care of him the way you do when you’re at home.” Doctor Sulieman’s eyebrow twitched. “Unless that is a problem.”

His stance changed with the shift of his tone. Nigel went on guard; muscles tense and fingers in lose fists. He didn’t want to fight a civilian. 

“You’re right. Usually it wouldn’t be a problem, but you can see we’re having a very bad night and I’m feeling territorial. I refuse to be vulnerable while tied to my mate.” He hated how truthful this was. He should be protective because Wally was a friend, and not because Wally was an omega. 

Wally remained blissfully unaware of his situation. His blond hair fanned out over the tiny pillow. His eyelids were blue and his long fingers actually looked delicate. He looked delicate. 

He never noticed this before, because Wally always wore oversized clothes. Now, he couldn’t believe he’d missed all the signs.

Doctor Sulieman opened a drawer and pulled out three empty eight-ounce cups; roughly how much semen a knotted mating would produce. “Get started and I will have a nurse come in with help you with the heat kit.”

Nigel nodded, though now, he had to think of a reason why he didn’t want Wally full of sperm. The second the doctor left the room, he pulled out his mobile and shot a note to Abby. When the door opened again, he expected the doctors, not his team sneaking into the room. Hoagie was the last one in and he gently shut the door. 

“The doctor says he’s going to need a psyche evaluation before we can take him, but we don’t have the time to wait.” Nigel pointed over to the equipment waiting for his spunk to help his best friend get through his heat. 

“Oh man! He ain’t gonna talk with a therapist. This is gonna be one of those _lets not talk about it_ situations, you know.” Abby went straight to the bed and pushed a blond strand off Wally’s forehead. 

Kuki took a seat at the foot of the bed. “They were never going to let any of us go. They held us in a second cell. There were so many cameras and an open bid. This situation got scary real fast, Nigel.”

Nigel’s adrenaline rushed back in. He hadn’t allowed his brain a chance think about the cold water or how tired his body was from trying to keep his head above it. “How did the Alliance find us?” 

“I let the Alliance chip me a couple years back. It was a prototype, but I’m not going to knock it,” Hoagie said, pointing to the back of his neck. 

“I could kiss you man,” Nigel said, falling back into the chair. If he sat too long, he was going to fall asleep. It was a physical crash from constant adrenaline highs and drops. 

“The tech boys are attempting to trace the outgoing broadcast, but the IP addresses came through a scrambler. The Alliance are questioning the Teen Ninjas back at headquarters. It’s obvious that this was a personal vendetta,” Abby said.

“He’s pissed a lot of people off and not all of them are even villains. We’re looking at teachers, parents, teammates, kids on opposing teams. The list goes on.” Abby listed as she dropped her hand over Wally’s and gave a gentle squeeze.

“What about him being in heat? Are you going to knot and claim him like you said back at the warehouse?” Hoagie asked, picking up the empty cups to examine.

At Nigel’s open surprise, Hoagie awkwardly shrugged. There was a collective sigh. They’d all heard his declaration.

“You seemed pretty adamant about knocking him up and taking him out of the game. You know, they would have made sure it wasn’t a bluff if that’s all they were after,” Abby said, voice soft; sympathetic. They’d talked more than a dozen times, high on a joint with nowhere to go and songs on loop on their mobiles playing to fill the silence, about the confines of being a leader when it hindered his relationships.

He dropped his head back for a second before glancing at his water-resistant watch. There was no telling when the nurse would come back and since he had no intention of using his sperm or someone else’s, they really needed to wrap this up. 

He stood with forced determination to get moving before exhaustion really caught up with him. “I will if it’s the only way to protect him.”

“Got’it. So don’t look for a better option—” Abby threw him a wink. “I’m kidd’in boss. Seriously, I know you two are best friends, and it’s an extremely weird relationship the two of you have, but we’ll look to see what we can do.”

“I appreciate that… but I don’t have _weird_ relationships with anyone,” he answered. 

The three busted out laughing. 

“Okay, whatever you say, but when the rest of the world sees something the two of you don’t…. just saying!” Kuki rolled her eyes as she stood from the edge of the bed. 

“We’ll keep you informed on our end. Text us if something comes up,” Abby said. 

Hoagie passed him a little gray pill and he swallowed it dry. The team left, and the quietness sank in, leaving him restless. He pressed the palm of his hands up against his eyes. The nightmare of their evening didn’t immediately leave. It haunted him; the coldness of the water, the conversations, the way Wally looked shaken while arguing with the hidden figure.

Was Wally still in danger? His hitter would never agree to keep a low profile until they could fully understand why such elaborate measures were taken to expose him in such a dramatic way. Pure malice had gone behind this attack. He couldn’t image Wally ever agreeing to be a kept omega. Wally new the Alliance’s regulations on omegas, hence why he kept his secret so long.

The door opened and this time it was the friendly nurse. She held a sizeable black, unmarked bag. “Everything you’ll need will be in here. Given the circumstance—” her eyes drifted from his shoulders down his broad chest to his hips where the scrubs practically molded to his half erect shaft. “I put three different sized dildos inside in case your omega needs stretching. Will there be anything else?”

Nigel fought the rush of heat to his cheeks. It’s not that he was blind to his appearance. He was popular with omegas and betas… and a little to his surprise, a few alphas. “That’s considerate. Thank you.”

She glanced over to the three empty cups before looking back at him. Pink darkened her cheeks as she licked her lips. “Do you, uh…. Do you need help with anything?”

Nigel’s heart started pounding again. He tittered on what was right which greatly differed from what his alpha mindset wanted. He swallowed down the inner grief. He could do this. He could stay stronger than his alpha hunger. “Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.” 

The beta nurse’s smile faltered, but she stayed polite. “Okay. Our psychologist is in route. He’ll be here shortly.”

Nigel nodded, feeling utterly blank inside. He fell back into the chair with the kit in his hands. They were out of one situation and straight into the next. He had no idea how much liquid heat-inducer had been in each needle and due to the gag order placed on his work with the Alliance, he couldn’t tell the doctor the entire situation with the drugs involved. 

Damn.

He wanted to be the one to claim Wally. He wanted Wally to be _his_ omega.

“Can’t do that,” he mumbled to himself. They’d been best friends forever. So what if he harbored feelings towards his friend whose second designation never mattered to him. He loved Wally. Always had.

“Can’t do what?” Wally’s voice was hoarse. He shifted his weight to sit up, then took in the room. Panic sank in immediately. “Where’s my clothes? Where are we? Nigel, what’s going on?”

Panic. 

Nigel cupped Wally’s hand, feeling it twitch under his. “It’s okay. We’re at the hospital. You did good kid. We’re all safe.”

Wally nodded, but there was no relief. He tried to sit up again and was forced to lay back, hand going to his stomach as he gritted his teeth and rode out the pain. “You know now.”

The sweet musk of omega pheromones blossomed in the air with Wally’s movement. Fresh slick was nothing short of an addicting scent. It had the exact hungering effect that walking into a movie theater and smelling popcorn or going to the state fair and smelling freshly spun sugar, had. 

Nigel swallowed the growl that tightened his throat. Wally was so naïve, he didn’t even look down at Nigel’s scrub pants to see what effect he had. “Yeah. I know, the team knows, the Alliance knows, and our enemies now know.”

Wally’s tongue darted out to lick his dry lips as he shifted his weight in the bed. “I need clothes. I need to get going.”

Nigel tried to breathe through his mouth, but it was no good. The omega scent coated the back of his throat. He closed his eyes and focused on his control. If anyone needed him as a captain and friend, it was Wally.

“Nigel?” The nervous lint in Wally’s voice, broke his concentration. Those intense green eyes now regarded him with caution. 

“Everything is going to be fine.” In truth, watching Wally’s insecurity unfold in such a short fraction of time, he realized there the psychologist wasn’t going to see their hitter the way the rest of the team saw him; energetic, determined and highly skilled. 

The psychologist was going to see an omega who sliced both arms from wrist to elbow in an attempt to keep from getting mated.

The need to leave became so much more urgent. 

“What is the Alliance going to do with me?” Wally waved him away when he tried to help him sit up. He slumped, one hand on the bedrail as he dangled his legs over the side. 

“That’s something we can discuss with the director when you feel better. But right now, I’m concerned with the sheer amount of heat-inducers you have in your system and you’re still not experiencing a full blown heat.”

Wally huffed and pulled the blankets over his bare legs. The fluorescent light only managed to make him look pale. “Don’t think too hard on it. I’m not.”

“What were you taking to suppress your heats?” Nigel asked. It was the only explanation he had on why Wally wasn’t on all fours with his butt in the air, begging for it. Not that he looked all that great sitting upright either. 

“I need clothes.” Wally ignored his question as he slid off the bed, taking the sheet with him to wrap around his body. Not all his fingers closed, which made holding the blanket difficult for him. 

Nigel stepped into his space, blocking him. “What are you taking to suppress your heats? Alpha-Fen? A-Chrome?”

His long-time best friend snarled at him. “Don’t you dare try and tell me what’s right, Nigel. I won’t have it.”

“What are you taking to suppress your heats?” Nigel pressed. 

Wally stared up at him. “You are my captain in everything, Nigel, but not this.”

A hard knock on the door stilled their conversation. The door opened and a man in his late forties entered the room with a briefcase in hand. He wore a blue dress shirt, black slacks and polished shoes. His square, silver rimmed glasses framed a square face with kind gray eyes. 

“I’m Doctor Menachema. I’m going to ask a few questions and determine if it’s safe to release the patient.” The doctor let the door shut on its own accord behind him as he took roost against the counter with the sink and unused cups. He gave those cups a moments notice, but in Nigel’s head, it looked suspicious. 

All his training as an operative had taught him how to read faces and clues set about a room. He was more trained than the doctor who university training was more practical day-to-day and not life-or-death situations.

“Please take a seat.” Doctor Menachema motioned at the bed with the mess of blankets and absorbent pad.

Wally yanked the blanket over his shoulders like a little cocoon. “I’d rather stand, thank you.”

Nigel fought the urge to roll his eyes with the doctor studying them. He couldn’t afford to let the man believe he didn’t have control over the situation. 

God, he wanted to pull his friend behind him and tell the doctor they were going to handle this on their own. He could only imagine what the doctor saw. Wally looked insecure and scared. 

“Wallabee Beatles, what age did you present as an omega?” Doctor Menachema asked. His notepad was open, but at an angle so it was impossible to see what he wrote. 

Wally looked embarrassed. “Eleven.”

Nigel tried to piece that year together. So many things had started changing, but if he remembered correctly, Wally was the first one to stop showering with the rest of them after a mission. It’d been sudden, but the excuses were hardly suspicious. He’d say things like _I can’t shower now before I go to my kickboxing class. Then I’d be showering twice in a day. It’s pointless._ and that made sense. 

But he couldn’t remember Wally actually being gone long enough for a full heat, unless it happened during a family vacation. He shook the thought. Wally was his best friend, not his omega, which meant his hitter wasn’t obligated to tell him anything.

“And this body dysmorphia issue, how long have you struggled with it?” The doctor asked.

Wally’s eyes widened. “I’m not struggling with anything you self-righteous wanker!”

The doctor raised an eyebrow and jotted a note. Nigel frowned and pulled out his phone, throwing a quick test to Abby. _We need an exit strategy stat._

Her text answer came immediately. _On it boss._

“What steroids are you taking that allow your body to take on this heavier, alpha shape?” the doctor continued, ignoring Wally’s outburst. 

“Bugger off! All this is natural and yes, I can bench more than you.” Wally became hostile but remained uncharacteristically frozen where he stood with his back up against the wall.

Doctor Menachema closed his notepad and adjusted his glasses. “I have everything I’m going to need. Thank you for your time.” 

They were both silent as they watched the door click closed behind the doctor. Anxiety and energy buzzed under Nigel’s skin. This was bad.

“Congratulations Wally. I think you blew any chance we had at a normal exit. You do realize they have a bit of security here.” Nigel walked over to the cupboards and started popping them one by one until he found a baby chick yellow jumper with snaps up the inner legs. It’d been washed enough times to make it soft and threadbare. 

“Give me your clothes and you wear that.” Wally growled at him. His eyes were too wide. His pupils were starting to dilate, which meant he could be starving off the coming effects of a true bout of heat.

“Unless you want to leave the hospital completely naked, you will,” Nigel answered. 

Wally hissed but relented, then grew frustrated again at Nigel’s insistence that he help him. It was a treat to see his best friend naked again and to wrap his arm around his waist to hold him upright as they wiggled the jumper on him. It was a larger jumper, probably for a pregnant omega. Wally wasn’t fat. There wasn’t an ounce of extra weight on him, but he was a fraction broader than his age group.

“I’m dead and in hell. That’s the only explanation on why I’m being tortured,” Wally complained as he sat back on the bed. He’d stopped focusing on his objective as he stared blankly at the wall. 

“Are you hurting?” Nigel didn’t give his friend an inch of space as he dropped his hand on his best friend’s lower back. To his surprise, Wally gave a very soft exhale that almost sounded like a needy moan…

Almost.

But then again, they were talking about Wally. The kid chased down a villain on his sprained ankle just to prove a bloody point. He’d jumped out of a moving van and broke a number of bones, again, just to prove a point. 

Wally pushed him back. “I’m fine Nigel. Stop trying to baby me.”

An alarm echoed out in the hall. It took a second to realize it was a fire alarm and that it was probably Abby’s exit plan. Their resources were limited when dealing with a world not governed by the Alliance or the Villain Guild. Damn! He’d take it!

Wally slid off the bed, but barely took a step before he grabbed the railing and doubled over. It was only when Nigel grabbed him to keep him from falling, did he realize what the real problem was. Wally shivered in his arms, eyes squeezed shut and head thrown back; cute, pink lips pressed into an orgasmic O. 

Wally was orgasming, and it was fucking hot!

Again… Wrong thing to focus on. 

He held his best friend as the tremors wrecked his body. And he bloody loved the feel of it. Wally was so warm in his arms. He smelled so good despite all the smells he’d picked up over the last twenty-four hours, but there was the distinct scent of him under all that. 

“I’m going to carry you, okay,” Nigel said, when Wally stopped jerking. His best friend gave a very tired nod against his shoulder. 

He picked him up, liking the solid weight in his arms. It was a strong reminder that Wally wasn’t someone that needed to be looked after. He could take care of himself, but they had to make sure he really wasn’t suicidal first. 

Wally wrapped an arm around his neck and there was a great deal of weakness in the way he held on. They moved into the hallway, through a rush of concerned visitors. Heads glanced their way and nostrils flared, taking in Wally’s scent. He should have grabbed a blanket, not that it would contain the saturated heat scent for long. 

“Nigel?” Wally’s hold tightened around his neck, openly anxious. He followed the direction of his best friend’s attention where Doctor Menachema stood at the nurse station with two security guards. 

The man was signing documents while a nurse speedily typed into her computer. They were coming to get Wally and if the waiting security guards were anything to go by, they expected trouble. 

Wally buried his nose against his neck and growled low. “I’m not going with them.”

“Not a chance. Besides, they don’t even know we’re gone.” Nigel backtracked. He couldn’t stop his possessive side from pushing to the forefront of his brain, which triggered his knot to semi-inflate.

They rounded the corner, almost colliding with another two security guards. From the look on the older men’s faces, they already knew about Nigel and Wally. He stepped out of their reach. If he was forced to fight, all logic would leave him. It could force him into a rut.

Wally did him a solid. The least he could do was return it by standing lucid and in control.

“Handover the omega, son.” The security guard with gray in his goatee ordered. Both men expertly blocked the hallway and with the onlookers not giving them much space, it would be impossible to get through the mess without hurting someone.

“Nigel!” Wally shifted in his arms.

He glanced over his shoulder to see they were now boxed in by the other security guards and the doctor. Wally’s fingers dug into his shoulders as his best friend shivered. 

A mini orgasm. God, it was nice holding him through it., but in turn, it made him feel protective.

“I can protect myself,” Wally whispered, face almost buried against Nigel’s shoulder. 

“Everything is going to be fine, Mr. Uno. We’re going to hold your omega for evaluation and you can spend his heat in the heat ward with him,” Doctor Menachema said. 

“Nigel…” Wally’s grasp loosened around his neck. The sudden unease in his hitter’s tone concerned him. “Your smell changed.”

“Can you stand on your own?” Nigel asked, though at this point, he didn’t have a better choice. He gently guided his friend to his feet, without taking his eyes off the guards.

“Careful. I don’t want the omega hurt. He’s confused and vulnerable,” Doctor Menachema told the security guards when two of them pulled their tasers.

Wally hissed under his breath, a barely there sound. He smelled like an omega in heat, but his wits remained about him. “Can I trust you?”

It took Nigel a second to realize that Wally directed the question at him, after years of friendship. He had no idea what fueled that question. “Yes.”

Wally took a breath as he moved away from Nigel, but not so far that he wasn’t within reach. Maybe his best friend understood the rules that governed an alpha’s animalistic nature. Maybe he knew that Nigel’s scent changed because he’d had gotten possessive over his gain. 

A blow horn ratchetted sound, startling the guards just enough for another, much leaner body to slide between them. Said person was tall and wearing a gas mask. Abby.

“Get going. I’ll hold them off.” Her voice was muffled from her gear, but he heard it.

He pulled Wally back towards him and was met with resistance. Wally leaned his weight backwards, so Nigel couldn’t swing him up into his arms.

“Not now, Wally,” he growled. The aggressor within him was at the forefront of his brain. 

“Nigel, I don’t want to be knotted.” Wally put more of his weight in his tail-end when Nigel tried to yank him into his arms again. 

It took all his patience. “I have no intentions of taking your virginity, princess, but we really got to get going.” 

“I can walk,” Wally said.

“Not going to chance you slowing us down,” Nigel answered. This time when he yanked, Wally ended up a warm, soft omega bundle in his grasp. He loved the way those long, slender arms looped around his neck for extra support. He loved Wally’s warm breath on his neck and the way his best friend smelled like needy omega.

He knew he was about to lose it when orderlies tried to stop them. He could feel it at the core of his being, but then, through the mess of people, he saw Kuki at the end of the corridor waving for him to hurry. Relief flooded in as he caught up to her.

“We need a distraction. We have orderlies on our tail.” He barely informed her.

“Right. I see them. Keep going down the hallway. Hoagie is waiting with the van. I’ll hold these men off.” Kuki said.

Man. He loved his team.


	3. Chapter 3

Wally had another orgasm in his arms right as they exited the sliding doors. The air felt too humid, closing in on him and making him too aware of the way Wally cried, burying his nose against his neck. A white, unmarked van waited at the entrance. 

Hoagie slid the door open and took them both in. The half-smile didn’t reach his eyes. “It took you long enough.”

Nigel stepped into the van as Hoagie crawled over the seats into the driver’s side. “Not now, Hoagie. They think I just kidnapped an omega that needs to be hospitalized in the psyche ward.”

He pulled the van shut as two orderlies run out of the double doors. With his luck, their photo would be plastered on the news in the next ten minutes. This was one problem the Alliance had to fix. Hoagie put the car in drive when the first orderly reached for the door handle.

Nigel never felt more relief than in that second. “That was close.”

Wally didn’t complain about being manhandled and now adjusted in Nigel’s lap. His best friend’s eyes were closed, and his breathing was shallow. His skin was pale from the trauma and the color had drained from his lips. He took that moment to pick up Wally’s wrist and stare at the white gauze that wrapped up his arm. 

“You didn’t have to cut so deeply, kid,” Nigel whispered, carefully placing Wally’s arm into the space between their bodies. He wondered if Wally felt any discomfort beyond his heat. 

Nigel adjusted his position and the brush of air between their bodies made him aware that Wally’s slick soaked through the jumper fabric. He brushed his hand over Wally’s warm bottom. Wally’s scent infiltrated every space of the van, testing him.

“Do you have a direct line with Abby and Kuki?” Nigel asked.

Hoagie tapped a finger at his ear. The earwig wasn’t visible where he sat. “The girls are already out and following our GPS.”

Hoagie clicked on the police radio scanner. The hum of noise filled the silent car with codes, some of which he recognized. Somewhere in that mess of orders, he heard the direct order for an aerial view. Just what they needed, a helicopter overhead. 

“Time to ditch the van.” Hoagie pulled into a parking lot full of buses and cut the engine. “Do you think a missing bus will go noticed?”

“I hope you have a better plan than hotwiring a bus.” A teenager driving a bus midday when school was still in session would not go unnoticed by a helicopter. 

Wally shifted fully awake and tried to shove him back in his haze. “I’m going to be sick.”

Nigel debated opening the door, especially with Wally’s body giving off such a strong heat scent, but in the end, he didn’t want to be in a car smelling vomit. He grabbed the handle and rolled the door open, barely missing Wally when the omega slid out of reach and made it only as far as the bus ahead of them before vomiting. The pressure of it shook his narrow hips and slumped shoulders. 

Wally wore such a big mask at school and in their internship, that he’d never noticed all those fragile angles. He never noticed how thin Wally’s forearms really were and that his bone mass was a bit lighter. It didn’t slow their hitter down though. It didn’t curve his machoism or his independent streak. Nigel slid out of the van, but was shoved, as well as Wally could while injured, back a step.

“A little breathing room please. I’m not going to sprout wings and fly away or something,” Wally growled, but didn’t face him with that statement. Under his breath, he clearly mumbled the word alpha with a few creative slang words, before dry heaving took him again.

Hoagie came around the car. “Hope he doesn’t bust a nut vomiting like that. Can’t be good when nothing is coming up.”

Wally spit and used his free hand to flip Hoagie off. “Says the engineer who’s probably never busted a nut in his life.”

Hoagie threw his head back and laughed. “Despite your assumptions about nerds, I’m not bad with the ladies. If you went to any of the high school dances, you’d see my moves.”

Wally looked exhausted. His pale skin looked porcelain and his blond hair clung against the side of his face. Those green eyes were sharp; pupils were back to their normal size. “Those lame dances don’t have an ounce of liquor.”

“You shouldn’t be drinking.” Nigel’s comment was automatic.

His hitter’s attention went from Hoagie, to him and the fierceness in that stare took his breath away. “You never got that bossy about our personal lives before, Nigel. Don’t start on my behalf.”

Nigel huffed. “I’d tell that to any one of you. It dulls your judgment. Makes you an easy target.”

Wally’s burst of laughter caught him off-guard. “Don’t underestimate me, Nigel. I will never be an easy target.”

What bothered him the most; Wally actually believed what he said. He didn’t realize the disadvantage he was at with his heats. 

This was his hitter. Wally was nothing if not aggressively independent and he’d go to great lengths to prove it.

Nigel couldn’t ignore the heavy presence of guilt tightening in his gut. Maybe he jumped the gun in bailing on the hospital, though everything inside him said Wally getting knotted wasn’t the answer. Sure, he’d never tell his best friend what he could and couldn’t do, but he wouldn’t let the doctors dictate his hitter’s life either. 

“I wish the girls would hurry. I don’t like being out in the open like this,” Hoagie said, glancing down at his thick, black watch. 

“This is worse than the flu.” Wally had one arm wrapped around his waist. He looked so small in the little jumper now plastered around his legs with slick. 

“Are you able to walk?” Nigel asked. It was clear Wally couldn’t run in this state. 

His best friend sighed and nodded as he forced himself upright. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

A sleek, black jeep drove into the lot, windows tinted. Hoagie moved past them to greet their friends. When it stopped in front of them, Hoagie went up to the vehicle and stretched his arms out over the hood. “There’s my beautiful girl. Did you miss your daddy?”

“Is he serious right now?” Abby asked, popping the driver door open. Kuki popped her side open.

“And we’re supposed to believe he’s been laid?” Wally rolled his eyes as he shoved away from the bus and straightened his shoulders. Despite looking as sick as he felt, he wore an impressive mask of indifference. 

How many times had their hitter truly been injured and played it off? Wally was very good at taking his problems and shoving them so far down that hypnotherapy would never be able to scratch that surface. That was one attribute he really admired about his hitter. The kid never complained when a job got too rough. He took his hits and rolled right back into the fight. But that wouldn’t work now. Nigel wouldn’t let Wally bury this. He was an omega and that was an issue that had to be faced directly.

He stayed at Wally’s side as his friend moved slowly to the jeep. His body was stiff, and his movements forced as if the effort took too much from him. When they got to the jeep, Wally stared at the open back door, frowning.

“It’s a cramped space.” Wally shook his head with disapproval, stepping right back against Nigel.

“Get in the God Damn car, Wally! We don’t have time for this.” Abby growled.

“No! I can’t. I’m not going to be in such a closed space with—” 

Nigel looped an arm around Wally and lifted him up through the open door where Hoagie caught their small hitter by the shoulders and pulled him the rest of the way. They didn’t give Wally even a second to fight.

“Go Abby,” Nigel ordered when he climbed in behind Wally and shoved the door shut.

Wally’s alluring scent immediately filled the space. It left him so hard that the tip of his cock started leaking, making the thin scrub pants wet. He wished for his boxer briefs to keep the giant issue contained, and maybe a little less obvious. 

“How did you escape the police?” Nigel asked, hoping the change in subject would make Wally less anxious. 

Abby slowly merged with the morning traffic. “Did a switch-a-roo, thanks to the Alliance. The police are chasing decoys.” 

“I told you it would work.” Hoagie said, then turned to Nigel. “It was my idea. Occasionally, I have some good ones.”

“Hey kid, brought you a souvenir from the hospital.” Abby threw a black bag into the back seat. 

Nigel already knew what it would be inside and personally agreed with her foresight. His best friend sat there with it on his lap, scowling. 

“I don’t care what it is, I don’t want it.” He brushed the bag off his lap.

Nigel rescued it from the floorboard. Wally would eventually have to accept his fate. 

Abby held up a brown, unmarked pill bottle. “I liberated a small present for the rest of us. It’s police quality serotonin blockers. Kuki and I already took one. I suggest you both do the same.”

“Why do I get the bag of dildos and you get the suppressants?” Wally argued when Nigel took the bottle.

He popped the lid and shook the small, white pill into his palm. “Do you understand why police use blockers? It’s so the smell of an omega in heat doesn’t put them into a rut. No one present can contain me if I go into a rut.” 

“Someone thinks highly of themselves,” Wally grumbled, eyes following the pill bottle when Nigel handed it off to Hoagie. 

He ignored Wally as he swallowed the pill dry. He hoped it digested quickly, considering how empty his stomach was. 

Wally folded his arms protectively over his stomach. Something in the way he shifted his weight said he wasn’t feeling all that great. “What are the plans?”

“Base has a medical team waiting,” Abby said, slowing for a red light.

Wally sat straight up, hands going past Hoagie to the door handle. “No way, man. I’m not letting anyone else touch me.” 

Nigel grabbed Wally by the waist and got a foot in his shoulder for the effort. Hoagie struggled with the door as it opened an inch before it was slammed shut. Still, Wally fought with them.

“Okay. Wally. Okay! You win, settle down,” Nigel growled. His best friend kicked him in the shoulder again, before the same foot came down hard on his lap, over his hard shaft. Pain hummed up his spine and stole his breath.

Wally hadn’t even noticed. “I’ll bite straight through your wrist, Hoagie. Stop it!” 

“Jesus! I believe him, Nigel.” Hoagie yelled over the ruckus.

“Kuki, get back there and help them,” Abby growled from the front seat. 

Nigel took a deep breath, clearing his head before grabbing Wally around the waist and dragging him into his lap. His hard shafted twitched with the warm weight pressed against it. He caught Wally with a firm grip on the back of his neck and forced his friend to rest his nose against his neck.

“Enough Wally. We need to make sure your body can handle the distress of this heat since you’re on some pretty heavy liquid stimulants,” Nigel growled. 

Wally shifted his hips and for a second, Nigel was extremely unapologetic that his friend was feeling the mass of his alpha glory. He loved that his closest friend now sat on his lap, knowing what he could offer. 

“I don’t want help.” Wally’s voice was barely louder than the hum of the car engine. His hand came up to rest against Nigel’s chest. His bandages were still pristine white, which meant he didn’t tear the stitches in his little tantrum. 

“I know,” Nigel said, running his free hand through Wally’s beautiful, blond hair. He smelled like the hospital chemicals, and the number of hands he went through from their prison all the way to the hospital. Underneath all that, he smelled like good ol’ Wally.

Wally grabbed at his stomach and huffed in pain, doubling over. “I’m going to be sick again.”

“It ain’t safe to stop around here,” Abby said, as they pasted two patrolling police cars. The loud rotator of a helicopter zoomed overhead.

“You know, it’s a pretty huge offense to steal an unclaimed omega,” Kuki said, face down in her mobile phone. She glanced back at him, expression dark. “There is a manhunt forming for Wally. The Alliance will probably put a gag hit on Wally before the government can even take him back.”

Her statement had everyone, except Wally, looking out the car windows. Nigel scanned their surroundings. He’d been so caught up with the situation inside the car, it slipped his mind that the Alliance might have them followed. His hold tightened on Wally, drawing him a little closer, reassuring himself that he still had everything under control, even though he knew it wasn’t.

“It’s not beyond the Alliance to arrange a mating with someone who would keep him in the house and out of the public eye. They’ve done that before to keep their agents permanently silenced,” Hoagie said.

Wally snapped to attention, nearly breaking the hold Nigel had on him, but he didn’t try to escape. His beautiful green eyes were again hazed. “I’m not going to the Alliance.”

“Okay. Fine. I won’t take you to the Alliance right now, but we can’t upturn our lives over a reality we need to accept.” Nigel pulled his shirt over his head and handed it to Wally. He felt compelled to explain when Wally looked up at him, confused. “It’ll help with your nerves. Keep breathing my scent in.”

Wally hesitantly took the shirt and held it to his nose. The first couple of breaths did nothing, but a few minutes into the process, he started to sink back against Nigel. Nigel wasn’t fully convinced that wasn’t a dirty trick. He caught Abby staring at him through the mirror, but he couldn’t see judgment. The team already spoke. They thought he should claim their smallest member. 

Bad thing was, their smallest member was also the most aggressive. He glanced down at Wally, wondering how his friend felt about having sex. Most everyone couldn’t wait to be old enough to partake in the mating game. Wally never once spoke of dating. He would pretend to vomit every time someone kissed on television, and God forbid if there was any kissing in the comic books he read; it only lead to a long as tangent about selling out. He had no interest beyond their field work. 

“Nigel, if we get stuck at a road check, they’re going to find him,” Abby said, glancing back at them as traffic forced her to slow. The noise of the helicopter overhead made the car vibrate.

No one said it. They didn’t have to. If he bit Wally, the hospital couldn’t legally separate him from his omega. However, if the court saw fit to put him in prison, they would incarcerate Wally. He’d have better luck sharing a cage with a mountain lion than getting stuck in such a small space with a highly aggressive, feral omega. 

“Take a right at this next corner. We’re going to safe house-22374,” Nigel said. As kids, they’d called it the dog bunker because it smelled like a wet dog for the first couple months, until forty food scented candles, a lot of airing out and bubble gum scented girl things shifted the smell. 

Wally twisted to look at him, those green eyes still unreadable; dark pupils, wide. It took everything not to reach around his best friend and pull him back up against his chest. At least the smaller agent remained still against him. 

He found Wally’s solid weight a warm comfort on his aching cock. Those pills Abby found were definitely handy, even if his shaft was still hard and ready to help the omega through his heat. At least his knot wasn’t semi-erect.

“Man, we haven’t been there since our childhood. It has to be a den for wildlife by now.” Abby eased into the far lane and turned down a quieter road leading towards the forest. There were no police vehicles this far out yet, but the helicopter kept circling around. 

“Oh! I love wild things,” Kuki squealed in the front seat.

“Then trade seats with me. You’ll get a kick out of what’s back here,” Hoagie tried to tease. It was in his good nature to smooth things over. 

Wally groaned and threw his head back against Nigel’s shoulder. Warmer slick slid through his clothes, perfuming the air. The awareness in his eyes started fading. “I can’t lose control of myself.”

There was a desperation, almost downright fear behind that comment. Wally still didn’t fully close his fingers and it made Nigel wonder if he could as he dropped his hands to his lap with the shirt on top of them. 

“You’ve never had a problem with me being in control.” Nigel tried not to shift. Any movement only furthered the fact that he could cut glass with what waited under the thin fabric of his scrubs.

Wally licked his lips, his attention now focused on Nigel’s mouth. “What are you saying?”

“Let me be in control of this, Wally. I’ll get you through it and afterwards, we’ll talk.” Nigel focused on his breathing as he wrapped his arms around Wally, pulling him close and marveling at the sheer heat coming off his body.

“No talking. I don’t ever want to talk about this again.” Wally growled, eyes clearing for just a second as his attention shifted straight to Nigel’s eyes. His pupils were already blown, eclipsing the stunning, emerald green of his irises. He was fevered, and it was such a exotic look on the Australian.

“Yeah, okay. We’ll put _talking_ on the shelf.” _For now._ He tried to breath without tasting Wally’s essence in the air. 

The road to their hideaway was rough, but doable in the jeep. The ride was shorter by far with a vehicle than going it on a bike. At first, he thought the helicopter was following them when it made wider circles in the air, but something must have seemed legit about their plight, because no police vehicles raced out onto the road to follow them.

Abby must have been holding her breath and thinking the same thing too, because the minute they hit the old dirt road with the tall trees covering their progress, she almost sounded jovial. “I can’t imagine anything in that bunker is still edible. I’ll make a food run and leave the food outside the door for you to retrieve.”

Wally sat upright, almost panicked. “You can’t be serious. I can take care of myself. I don’t need a babysitter”

Nigel inwardly sighed, eyes catching Abby’s through the mirror. “Bring the necessities for Wally and an actual meal for me. We might need some medical supplies, so we can keep tract of any medical needs that might come up.”

“Just ignore everything I just said. Real mature.” Wally growled, shifting his weight than immediately going still. There was no doubt in Nigel’s mind that he felt exactly what he was sitting on. 

As if Nigel could be neutral with the hottest little omega, in the world, sitting on his lap. He didn’t move though and was grateful when Wally didn’t try crawling off him. Instead, a shive ran up Wally’s spine, and Nigel could feel that tremor straight through the core of his manhood. 

“Here we are! Casa-de-Dog!” Abby broke the awkward silence as she stopped in front of a group of trees. The heavy, overlaying branches left thick, swaying shadows laced with bits of sunlight. 

Nigel pushed the door open and despite Wally’s protests and attempts at independence, helped his best friend ease off his lap and into Abby’s waiting arms. He followed, never taking his hand off Wally’s shoulder. Once out of the car, he drew Wally up against him, to support his exhausted omega best friend and to help keep him warm.

The air was cooler and the brush of wind through the leaves gave the forest a strange hushed white noise. Abby went ahead of them, walking through the brush. She found the old hatch cover and popped the lid, before whistling through her teeth.

A second later, she disappeared through the dark doorway with Hoagie and Kuki at her feet. Wally started forward, but Nigel pulled him back against the car. He expected an argument, but it never came. Maybe the exhaustion had finally gotten to him.

Abby came back out, ten minutes wiping her hands on an old rag. “Hoagie’s got that old makeshift generator running. Kuki has candles burning. It needs a little cleaning, but the place will work for a safe house, but I need an actual medical base if this gets worse.”

“Be humane and shoot me if this gets worse.” Wally pushed away from the car, but barely took a step before catching his stomach and doubling over. “God. No. No. No. No. No.” 

It was a mantra or chant; so desperate a whisper that if the room weren’t as quiet as it was, it might have gone completely unheard. Nigel swept Wally into his arms. His friend had to be mentally gone, because he didn’t protest. Wally wrapped his arms around his neck, whining against his skin as his nose found its spot against his throat. 

God. It should not feel this good holding his best friend. And something about it, made him feel strong, the protector to their wayward family. Because Wally needed him so much more than just a leader. He needed his friendship.

He took Wally inside and the old bunker immediately left his rattled brain calm. He took in the scent of his team, but mostly, the scent of his little omega. As promised, the generator hummed and the white Christmas lights they hung all over the walls. As kids, they’d been impressed. Now, as an adult, they looked like tangled spider webs.

Kuki came out of his room and smiled at him, then frowned when she noticed Wally clinging to him. “Abby said you’d want the nest in your room. I laid out the blankets, but they aren’t ready.”

He moved past Kuki and into his room. There were no beds in the bunker, but that didn’t stop them from bringing loads of blankets, sleeping bags and quilts to make the ground softer. Now all that crap was in his room, a bundled mess four inches off the ground in its entirety. The space was exactly as he remembered it, British band and movie posters. A British Flag with an American Flag underneath it. 

“It’ll do. Thank you, Kuki.” He laid Wally into the space and his best friend immediately started adjusting the sheets. He stood when Abby came into the room, taking the black bag of knotted dildos.

Abby’s hand on his shoulder, stopped him from digging them out. “I’m all for you being the one to claim him, he’s always looked at you like you hung the moon, but I want to make sure you had more time to think about it.”

“I’m not going to claim him.” Nigel frowned. Why did the entire team think this was what they both needed?

“He’s not going to take too kindly to you knotting and running,” she said.

He rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to knot him, Abby. He made it clear he doesn’t want to be owned.”

“Wally says a lot of crazy things. It’s not like the kid can make the best decisions for himself.” Abby said. The concern leaked into every crevice of her being.

Nigel sighed. “Don’t misunderstand the situation. I will claim him. He’s my omega. I’ve loved him a long time now, but I won’t claim him while he’s so vulnerable. I need him to understand that this is the best answer. “

“I’ll be back with food.” She promised with a curt nod, then left the room.

Nigel turned back to his smallest teammate. He had a handful of friends he’d helped through their heats, but Wally was the first male omega and unlike his past friends, he was concerned about Wally’s mental stability if he got knotted. 

Wally was the most determined, self-sufficient, chip on his shoulder little omega he’d ever met. The kid had something to prove and he’d break every bone in his body to do it. He’d almost done it before. 

Nigel laid down in the bed, not at all pleased with how uncomfortable it was. Nothing could hide the hard floor underneath. He barely got settled in when Wally’s hand shot out, grabbing his shoulder, but there was no strength in it and it lasted a second when Wally pulled back, fingers curled, but didn’t close and head back, obviously in pain. 

Nigel sat up. “Did you forget about your stitches?” 

He took Wally’s fingers in his hand and gently lifted his arm so he could check to make sure the bandages weren’t wet with blood, proof stitches had been torn. It was scary how compliant Wally was at the moment. 

“Nigel. Please. Make it stop. Just make it stop. It hurts so bad,” Wally whispered. His eyes were barely open. The green in his irises were barely there hugging his dilated pupils. 

Nigel ran his fingers through Wally’s hair as he laid down beside him. It was impossible to get comfortable. “I’ll be right here, the whole time, but—” he inwardly sighed, not sure if Wally was really seeing him. “But a knot will make you feel so much better.”

Wally started shivering and buried his face in the dusty blankets, crying. He wasn’t fully out of it. A part of Nigel said to wait. The minute Wally went under, he could knot his friend safely, without Wally freaking out and trying to break the latch, which would hurt them both. 

“Let me take off your jumper.” Nigel was already slipping the button through the hole on the strap. He expected Wally to fight, but his friend remained only mildly defiant until he got him to roll over and expose the second strap. 

Wally didn’t resist as he pulled the jumper from his lithe frame, exposing his beautiful pink nipples on his surprisingly flat omega chest. His stomach was flat and muscle hard. His hip bones made him look even more delicate, something he was sure his hitter wouldn’t want to hear. 

It felt utterly raunchy to be undressing Wally like this; to expose all that flesh that he hadn’t seen since grade school when they’d openly showered in front of each other after gym and missions. A very attractive patch of damp, dark blond curls hugged around Wally’s beautiful, hard shaft. 

Nigel’s mouth watered at the sweet aroma that hit his nostrils. He should have asked Abby for a scent infuser, air purifier and incense, anything that would keep his head cleared.

“I want to feel your weight on me.” The request was surprisingly well-constructed. When he didn’t immediately move, Wally looked up at him as he rolled onto his stomach. “Please Nigel. Just be like a weighted blanket or something.”

“My bones are going to be a lot denser than a blanket, kiddo.” If he went stomach down, on top of Wally, his best friend was going to feel how hard he was, and Wally was fairly easy to spook. That’s why he didn’t watch horror movies at night, and why he crossed the street when he saw a black cat and why he ran when someone reached over to hold his hand.

“I don’t want to go into heat,” Wally mumbled. It was such a sad, desperate plea, one spoken even after he knew the battle was already lost. 

“There’s a few none invasive things we can try,” Nigel said.

Wally nodded. “Like me breathing the scent in your clothes?”

Okay, that was a lot more innocent than he was going to suggest, which made it far more difficult to just throw it out there. Wally stared up at him. 

“Semen helps.” His throat felt dry saying that. Sex things never embarrassed him in the past. Wally dropped his face back into the curve of his elbow. “You do, uh, know where semen comes from, right?”

“Yes! Jesus! We were in the same classes, Nigel,” Wally growled.

“Yeah, well, you slept through a lot of those classes.” Hell, if anyone asked, he’d say he was really surprised how Wally managed to graduate every year when he slept through anything class related. 

“What are the other non-invasive things?” Wally growled from the crook of his elbow.

“Dry humping might relieve a little pressure in your lower abdomen. You can straddle me and that will give you full control of the situation.” Nigel felt breathless, even suggesting it, because it would mean Wally would be riding him; dry or not, he’d probably knot in his boxer briefs and come for the next twenty minutes straight.

Wally remained so still it was hard to tell if he was even breathing. “Any other suggestions?”

“You’ve masturbated before, right?” Nigel asked.

Wally hissed. “I’m not a pup Nigel…. Jeeze!”

“Well, there are knotted dildos,” Nigel said.

Wally sat upright. “I can wait it out.” 

Waiting wouldn’t work, but Nigel didn’t have the heart to press the obvious. “Okay.” 

For now.


	4. Chapter 4

“Nigel…” A soft, inquisitive voice woke him.

His mind scrambled to piece the last twenty-four hours together. Despite the adrenaline, fear, muscle soreness and bruising, it all boiled down to one thing; he laid in a nest with his omega hitter. The smell of his best friend, both his heat and his natural scent, lifted all the apprehension and dread he’d been holding onto. 

“How are you feeling?” He reached for his omega and pulled him tighter against his side. 

Wally immediately molded to him, soft, overly heated skin against his bare torso. When he ran his fingers down his friend’s spine, he would feel the delicate curve of his structure. He’d never tell Wally this. It would only piss off his hardheaded, ultra-independent friend. He also wouldn’t mention the thrill it gave him to feel the omega’s hardness pressed against his thigh as his friend searched for body heat.

“You said _it_ could make me feel better.” Wally was feverish and pale, eyes dazed when he looked up at him.

“You need to be a little more specific,” he answered, pushing Wally’s wet strands of hair away from his forehead. 

The kid’s breath hitched. Given the situation and the sheer quantity of liquid stimulants in his system, it was amazing he wasn’t a mess. His friend buried his face and mumbled an answer. He had to repeat the sound to himself before he realized Wally wanted help masturbating. 

Nigel didn’t ask him to clarify, since he suspected Wally’s guard would shoot back into place and the conversation would be over. “A knotted dildo will satisfy that empty pressure you’re feeling.” 

Wally sat upright, pulling the blanket to his chin. His eyes were wide with horror. “What! No! I’ve never…. It’s not like that.”

It was like that. Nigel knew omega anatomy so much better than his friend who slept through all the classes and until now, had never been in a committed relationship. As far as he knew, Wally had never even fooled around. It would explain the deeply rooted embarrassment of their current situation. 

He ran his hand up Wally’s leg that remained rested over his hips, gently pressing his fingers into his friend’s strong calf muscle. It was proof of all the hours Wally spent in track, and all the sports he played. “Just my fingers okay. It’ll help with the ache.”

Wally huffed and wouldn’t look at him. When his omega didn’t make any attempt to leave the nest, he guided Wally’s very warm, hips onto his waist, positioning his best friend so their crotches met. His friend was rock solid, much like him and the second the kid realized it, he attempted to scoot farther down off so they wouldn’t be so intimate.

He stilled that movement. “Trust me. Okay. I’m going to help you.”

Wally shuddered. He dragged the blanket with him and now loosely held it to his chest with one bandaged arm. His other hand laid across Nigel’s chest for balance. “We’re friends. We shouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Things happen. Things always happen with the team. We’ve been in worst positions, like when you got stuck at the cat lady’s house. That was a mess.”

Wally chuckled softly. “Yeah, but it was still less personal than this.”

And that’s what it boiled down to. Relationships were outside his hitter’s comfort zone. Wally didn’t date, and he suspected it had something to do with his designation. 

“I’m going to make you feel really good,” he promised. Nigel shifted his weight, pulling a couple of the blankets up at his back for better support. 

Wally glanced at him. His cheeks went pink. “I’m not like your girls. I don’t want to be kissed and cuddled and—”

He looped his hand behind his hitter’s head and pulled him down, so they were nose to nose. “I’ll try to oblige all your demands, princess.”

Wally huffed and went tense as he continued to run his mouth; nothing out of the unusual there. “This doesn’t mean anything. I’m still the same person. I’m still the muscle.”

“I would never want you to be anyone other than you, kiddo.” He wanted nothing more than to kiss Wally silent. His little omega talked a big game, but his body shivered and the tension made his shoulders curve inward, protectively. 

His friend’s slick soaked into his scrub pants conforming the wet fabric to his shaft. Not that the thin material of the soft scrub pants hid much before, but now, he was sure Wally could feel the way his shaft pulsed with its own desire. 

“Oh…” Wally half mumbled to himself and stopped squirming. His chin dropped, making his hair cover his face as he turned to look at the wall. 

“I’m not going to treat you like one of my girlfriends so you can settle down.” He ran his hand up Wally’s back over the thin, bunched up fabric looped around his torso.

“Or the cheerleaders or the drama club or the omega volleyball team—”

It was Nigel’s turn to go still. “You think I’ve slept my way through the entire high school?” 

Wally grunted. That was exactly what he thought. 

Nigel sighed. As an apex alpha, sometimes his testosterone ran high. He considered himself a giving lover. He made sure his partners got what they needed too. Wally though, was a partner he wasn’t so sure would appreciate getting what he needed or wanted especially if he thought he was just next in line for a stud.

“Kissing would help take your mind off things.” He drew his hand up his hitter’s thigh and back down.

Wally shivered. “Of course, you’d think now is a great time to brag about your skills.”

Nigel gritted his teeth to keep from laughing. “You brag every time we step onto a football field. You should know how bragging works.”

His best friend kept his hold of the sheet, though he couldn’t physically fight it if Nigel took it away. It hurt not knowing the sheer amount of nerve and muscle damage he might retain. “Just shut up and be a—”

“Warm body?” Nigel offered. He drew his fingers back up the inside of Wally’s thighs, wetting his fingers with the clear, fluid that dripped down his hot skin. The room smelled like omega heat and the sweeter scent of slick. It took strong discipline not to bring his wet fingers to his mouth or even his nose. 

Wally’s nails dug into his pectoral muscle, clearing the haze he hadn’t realized came over him. “What am I thinking? I can’t do this.”

Nigel caught his thighs before Wally could slide off and away. “Then don’t. I’ll do it for you.”

He flipped them and Wally was now on the incline he made. His best friend gave a little, winded surprised huff before drawing both arms to his chest, holding the blanket in place. 

“I’ve seen you naked before.” Nigel tried to make the situation light as he hovered over his friend and slowly pressed his hips down.

Wally swallowed hard enough to make his throat bob. He was beautiful like this; flushed, blushing and passive. He wanted to lean in and kiss him. God. Wally was so frustrating! “Yeah, when we were kids and there was a lot less…” 

Again he trailed off, but it sounded like he said _dirtiness._ It was painfully clear that Wally hated himself.

He wanted to promise Wally that he was still perfect in his eyes. That he loved how naive he was, how he never thought about his own safety before he jumped in to help others, that he was funny, caring, sweet, charming—

He moved his hips up brushing his clothed shaft against Wally’s naked erection. His friend’s much smaller shaft twitch with interest. His agent, however, closed his eyes and for all the world, looked like he stopped breathing when Nigel moved back enough to position his hitter’s legs at an angle and open.

The sight left him frozen. 

Wally already looked debauched and he hadn’t been touched yet. His blond hair was fanned out against the dark, dusty blankets. Despite his pale, feverish skin tone, his cheeks were bright pink, and his dark eyelashes kissed the crest of his cheekbones. He hugged the blanket to his chest in a last effort to save his modesty. 

It didn’t matter. He would be beautiful just the same. 

“You’ve been with male omegas, right?” Wally’s eyebrow arched. He looked exhausted and still trying to figure things out. Crippled with his fever and his achy body, he was extremely manageable.

“Uh…. No, but I’ve done this to the ladies, and they said it’s better than a knot.” He offered his most reassuring smile, not that Wally even bothered to look at him for comfort. He knew _his_ agent; knew every decision he would make, knew his behaviors, his mentality and even his schedules. So he knew, without a doubt, Wally had his guard up.

Wally sighed and something in the mere movement of his body said that he rolled his eyes. “They really turned down your _Golden Boy_ knot?”

It was Nigel’s turn to blush as he dropped his chin to hide his smirk. “Well, no.”

They’d begged for his knot, but a quick glance at Wally said his friend would throw him out of the room if he even mentioned it. Instead, he massaged his friend’s hips until he felt his hitter’s muscles release their tension. 

“Do you want to try this?” Nigel asked. What he really wanted to know, was if his hitter would drop his guard and take a chance on being his true omega self.

Wally shrugged one slender, shoulder then winced. The tension was back in his body as he slid a hand to his belly. “Okay. Just want to make this stop.”

Nigel wanted to kiss the stress straight off those sweet, tight lips. He could practically smell the squeaky-clean virgin plastic wrapper on Wally’s soft, untouched skin. He caught a curly lock of blond hair and worried it between his fingers, wondering why he never done this before when Wally fell asleep on him.

“I’m going to kiss you.” In all his time as a captain to this team, he’d never been more nervous than now, afraid that his little omega would keep rejecting his efforts.

Startled green eyes stared up at him. Wally’s mouth opened into a surprised-o. “What? Why?”

So innocent. Too innocent.

“Because it feels wrong just—”

“Plowing an operative?” Wally took the fun out of being an alpha in a position like this. 

He had a chance to be a hero, to make the omega feel good and Wally practically invited the proverbial ants to the picnic. 

“Because this will work better if you’re mind isn’t focused on what’s going on. Is there anyone at school you’d like to kiss?” Wow! Did he really want to open himself to jealousy, because that’s what he’d get if Wally started talking about another alpha. 

Wally chuckled, lightening the mood. “You mean like a relationship? Nah! Give me ice cream and video games any day, man.”

“Who is your favorite super hero?” Nigel pressed. He could come to some middle ground with his agent, and he could be mature about it.

Wally abruptly sat up and pushed him back, looking a little more shook. There was a sheen to his green eyes and a blush in his pale checks. His pupils were dilated, but he was still too conscious for the amount of stimulants in his system. “You’d have me sit here and pretend like I’m making out with a superhero? What do you take me for? A nerd? Please! I’m not Hoagie. Geeze.”

Nigel snapped his fingers in front of Wally’s face. “I need you to pay attention. I don’t want this situation to be rough on you.”

“I can do this myself! I don’t need you,” Wally tried kicking him out of the nest, but he caught his best friend’s ankle and yanked him back into a prone position. To his surprise, Wally’s breath fluttered, and the blush grew deeper.

Jesus! It was him! It was him that Wally had thought about when he said hero.

And if that didn’t make his alpha pride slam hard against his chest and his neither region. His knot tightened, filling with enough blood that he’d never be able to comfortably push it into Wally’s mating channel. 

“Okay kid, a little kissing and light petting.” He stayed firm on the situation as he leaned in. He wished, for the life of him, that the stupid blanket wasn’t there between their bodies. In truth, he really liked his agent naked.

The first kiss was chaste but warmed him straight to his core. The second one, he licked along the seam of Wally’s tightly pressed lips. Even in kissing, the omega was such a virgin.

When Wally finally opened his mouth to receive his tongue, something sparked within Nigel; something darkly possessive. He wanted to keep the omega. Make this omega his.

Wally’s mouth tasted good; warm, friendly and like every wet dream from his presentation days. He tried to drag the blanket off Wally’s body, but his best friend wasn’t ready to go that far, so he only kissed him, gently stroking his fingers along Wally’s open thighs, moving the blanket a little higher.

He kneaded his friend’s hips willing the tension to be smoothed from his muscles, then he drew his finger up his very slick crevice wishing for so much more. He could knot his best friend. He could mate him and they’d be together forever. No one would ever be able to separate them, to take Wally away from him—

“Okay.” Wally muttered, breaking the kiss, but not moving away. 

Nigel took a deep breath, afraid that he’d lose this perfect scent if he didn’t roll around in it. “What?”

“I… I think I can handle this part by myself.” Wally pressed at his shoulders as if he’d obey and walk out of the room.

“Nah-uh, kid. You’re not getting off that easily. You need help with this and you don’t want the Alliance involved so you’re stuck with me.” Nigel leaned back in, stealing another kiss from Wally’s swollen lips. 

There was little strength in Wally’s arms when he tried to push harder against him. “I’m not doing this in front of you Nigel! Geeze! I know you think I’m a failure, that I slept through all my classes, but I did get through puberty without you.”

Nigel caught him below the chin and gained his full attention. “I don’t think you’re a failure.”

“Okay, _whatever_.” His eyes were drifting shut again, but not before Nigel caught a wet sheen.

Something sat heavy in his hitter’s heart and he silently promised he’d figure this out, when Wally felt more stable. “Hey, Wally, if I had to build a fantasy agent team, I’d pick you as my hitter every time.”

That earned him a chuckle, but his best friend still wouldn’t look at him. Only when he started tightening his muscles in waves, did Nigel realize the pain was growing worse.

He kissed Wally’s bent knee, then pushed his finger between Wally’s warm crevice. His agent blindly reached out towards him, weak fingers grasping around Nigel’s forearm. He didn’t say stop, so Nigel pushed his finger through the tight ring of muscle. 

Wally arched his back and cried out; a mix between pain and pleasure. Still, his agent kept his eyes tightly shut as fresh slick gushed over Nigel’s knuckle. He pulled out long enough to shove a second finger in. The muscle remained unusually tight.

“Nigel… that’s…. that’s okay right there.” He was breathless and a sheen of sweat coated his skin. His other hand had gone to his stomach, his fingers pressing against the blanket as if he hurt.

“You need to feel full for this to work. It’s the nature of your gender.” He pulled his fingers out long enough to add a third finger and Wally went pale. 

“I can’t take anymore!” He tried to sit up and Nigel pushed him back down. 

“Calm down. You’re working yourself up.” He tried to sooth as he rubbed Wally’s thigh with his free hand and kissed his kneecap. 

His agent squirmed, determined to make this difficult. So much for comforting Wally and easing him into it. The kid needed this to be quick and impersonal. He inserted all three fingers back into his omega friend and pressed up on the bundle of nerves.

“Nigel!” Wally moaned, his legs going tight around his stomach to keep him from moving away, not that he had any intention of doing so. 

He liked it right here, taking in his friend’s orgasmic cries. Wally rode his fingers as orgasm after orgasm wrecked his exhausted body. 

“That’s good, omega. You are doing so good.” He wanted to reach under the blanket and milk his friend’s shaft and massage his sac, but the part of him that knew Wally would keel over and die if he found out, kept him from doing it.

The smell of omega spunk was keen to the scent of baking vanilla cupcakes. It had that tinge of scent that made the mouth instantly water. 

Wally went limp, breathing heavy like he’d ran a mile. His eyes were closed, and his legs went lax. Nigel pulled his hand out and brought it to him mouth, licking his friend’s slick off his fingers. If Wally was his, he wouldn’t waste a second before licking his omega’s spunk off his washboard stomach. 

In a perfect world, Wally would be one of those omegas that begged for his knot. 

It never happened.

 

Oo

 

Knuckles rapped softly against the door before Abby entered carrying a small stack of sandwiches on a napkin. “It got quiet, so I figured you took a break.”

Nigel leaned up on an elbow. It wasn’t comfortable since the blankets did little to soften the floor underneath. “Helping an omega through heat is easier when the omega doesn’t mind an alpha’s company.”

“That rough, huh?” She smirked, kneeling at the edge of the nest. He scouted his arm out from under Wally’s head so he could fully sit up.

“On so many levels, yes,” he admitted, taking the food. The first bite of the thick peanut butter instantly made his stomach rumble. He’d been hungry, but only now, he could feel the full effects of his empty stomach.

“You do realize that sex requires your knot to be outside your pants.” The twinkle in her eyes gave away her vast wisdom. 

“Fingers only, Abs. He freaks out if I even try to pull my shoes off.” He took big bites, barely tasting the peanut butter and jelly. His hunger outweighed enjoyment. It also took a great deal of energy not to maul the omega.

“I checked in with our handler at headquarters.” Her voice held a hint of warning. At his raised eyebrow, she shook her head and sighed. “They want Wally handed over immediately. He’s to be detained until farther notice.”

“Bloody hell! They’re going to bond him with another agent, probably one that works in office,” Nigel said. The Alliance made it perfectly clear that there was no tolerance for field agents bonding and omegas were never considered for task forces. He respected that request until today.

“If he gets decommissioned—” Kuki stood in the doorway, pointing to her head with a makeshift finger-gun and ticked her finger like a trigger. “Friend lobotomy! He’s not going to remember us.”

“We’ve been a functioning unit since primary, we’ll be okay now. I’m not going to let the Alliance, or the Teen Ninjas separate us.” Nigel promised as he polished off his second sandwich and finishing three-fourths of the water bottle. 

Thank God for Abby and her foresight. 

“I know you’ll handle this correctly.” Abby winked at him before she stood and indicated the small gathering at the door follow her out.

 

oOo

 

Wally slept for four hours straight, which was longer than an omega in the middle of their heat, usually slept. When his best friend did wake, he stretched, then went still.

“Crikey! We slept together.”

Life would be so much easier for the both of them if that were true. As it were, Nigel was exhausted, and his balls were starting to feel a little blue from all the pent-up energy. “Calm down. I didn’t knot you. You’re still unclaimed.”

Relief softened Wally’s rigidness, then he instantly looked apologetic. “I’m not the person you take home, you know.”

“I’ve taken you home many times, or did you already forget?” He didn’t wait for an answer. It was rhetorical and he wasn’t sure it was a conversation he wanted to have at the moment. “How are you still this lucid?”

Wally shrugged and the guilt worsened before he sighed and looked skyward, mumbling. “It’s probably….maybe, a little to do with the coke, maybe a little of the speed. Maybe a little to do with the suppressants from my homeland.” 

“I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and let you explain this, because it sounds like you’re doing drugs which is a clear violation.”

“Not everyone can be as perfect as you, okay. Some of us have to study harder to make things click and the hours get long.” Wally spoke with true regret.

Nigel swiped the hospital’s heat kit off the ground and tossed it to Wally. “Pick whatever size plug you’re comfortable with. No arguments, Wally. I need you to insert it. You need to stretch your muscle.”

“Why?” Wally let the bag rest in his lap, untouched. His blond hair curled with his sweat, framing his jawline. The dust coated his sweaty skin, even as he cooled, giving it a gray hue. Still, he was beautiful.

“I’ll answer that question once you put a plug in place. Come out to the living room when you’re done.” He walked out praying that this would be one thing Wally would do without a fight. He was good at taking orders on the football field and in their line of work, but when it came to personal situations, Wally never took advice. 

Abby threw them a smile as she stood in the makeshift cutout that was once a kitchen. The refrigerator was gone, leaving a gaping hole, but there was a working sink and cabinets. She was making more sandwiches. “Just in time for lunch. Your stomach must have an alarm clock.”

He tapped his noise. “Good sense of smell.” 

Wally came in a couple of minutes after him, wearing his jumper from the hospital, with a blanket wrapped a couple of times around his waist. It said a lot when Wally was willing to wear omega clothes in order not to be naked. 

Nigel helped Abby put everything out on the table, then divided the food. When they were sitting as a team, Nigel turned to the only teammate who wasn’t willing to look at anyone just yet. 

“The Alliance has ordered us to hand you over.” Nigel went straight for directness.

Despite the heavy quiet that lingered within the group, Wally seemed unconcerned. “I’m going to find a clinic to get sterilized. There. Bloody threat contained, right?” 

Nigel’s belly dipped. He wasn’t sure what part of him hated that statement more, his mind or his knot. “A clinic willing to sterilize a teenager without a psychological evaluation needs to be burnt to the ground.”

“It’s my body. It’s my say!” Wally hissed. 

The team looked between the two, but Nigel raised a hand to keep everyone from talking. Wally wasn’t even looking at them as he picked at the crust on his sandwich waiting to be reprimanded. 

“The Alliance only contributes to forty percent of this world. You still have the civilians and their rules. They will want you collared.” He purposely left off the part about being knotted and mated. It was a given, even if he wasn’t so sure how aware Wally was of this part.

Wally nervously tapped his finger on the table. “I was thinking about all this, you know, about the Alliance and the regular citizens. If I was claimed, they would leave me alone, right?”

“What are you thinking?” Nigel remained skeptic that his hitter could formulate a decent plan. From experience, Wally proved he never really thought through any of his great ideas.

“Well, it’s all about the ownership, right? Like, that’s what alphas want from omegas; mindless drones that are stuck in some sort of sexual servitude? So… if I wear a collar or something, it will look like we did all that alpha ritualistic stuff and we can move on and go back to the way things are.” Wally’s eyebrows went up, so openly hopeful that he had a good idea. He pointed a finger at Nigel, “And, the best part is, you can continue being the cock of the walk at school. I’m not going to stand in the way of your stud business.”

“You’re getting closer to the right scenario, but the wrong act.” Nigel disregarded the comment as he finished his sandwich. Wally was so close to the conclusion he’d come to, but he needed the omega to understand their predicament.

Wally rolled his eyes. “So damn cryptic all the time. Look, before you sale me short on this idea, I want to point out that I’ve been passing as an alpha for six years. Not once did anyone question it, so I know a couple things about deception.”

“He has a point,” Hoagie said. 

“The signs were there Wally. I was too pigheaded to notice them, and I can say the same for the Alliance. It’s not a mistake they’re going to make twice. They will hunt you down and place you in protective custody, maybe even decommission you once they neutralize the threat.”

“You don’t think they’ll decommission me sooner?” Wally’s fingers twitched, belying the ease he portrayed. He was as nervous as the rest of them.

“No. You’re a liability. Even if the people who kidnapped us, only wanted you, there is no way in hell I’d standby and let someone else deal with the issue.” Nigel admitted. 

Wally chuckled. “Bollocks, mate. I won’t even remember you. Friend lobotomy and all.”

Kuki perked up. “That’s what I said. It’s so true. No one remembers much about their teammates after that.”

“You already have a way out of this, don’t you?” Wally watched him closely. 

Nigel held his breath. Lying wasn’t an option. “Correct.”

The silence was heavy, followed by a very soft, barely there comment. “Okay.”

Nigel stared at his best friend. When his hitter didn’t look at him, he leaned across the small table and with his hand under Wally’s jaw, directed his face upward to look at him. Wally barely glanced at him before shutting his eyes and opening them again. 

“What do you want? A formal invitation? I don’t write in calligraphy. I said okay.” Huffy. Angry. Wally. His green irises sparkled with intensity.

Nigel’s mouth went dry. He wanted this so much. He just wished his omega would want it too, because Wally was, without a doubt his. 

Nigel came around the table and his hitter went still. He pressed his hand at Wally’s lower back. The fever was starting to break, but he estimated another heat before Wally came fully out of it. A heat would be the best time to knot. Wally would be too far gone to care. 

“Is your plan going to hurt?” Wally asked, standing and suddenly looking small again, like he had when he’d been forced to confess his true designation.

“I’ve never been able to judge your pain tolerance. Even now, you’ve surprised me. Go back to the room while I talk with Abby,” he said.

Wally walked away from them, looking a lot younger than his seventeen years. “After all this, I want two hamburgers and a long, hot shower.” 

“What’s on your mind, boss?” Abby asked.

“I’m going to take Wally to the Alliance’s front door and publicly claim him. I need cover. No one will get close to us until I’ve fully knotted and I bite him.” After that, there’d be nothing they could do.

Wally asked him to keep him safe. 

_But he didn’t say at any cost._ His conscious tried to intervene. 

This was the only way. 

“Uh-boy, that’s pretty risky, but we’re with you one-hundred percent of the way,” Abby said. The others stood and silently clasped his shoulder in support before moving off to get ready. 

He went back to the room. To his surprise, Wally allowed himself to be pulled into a tight hug. It didn’t take long until his friend was asleep in his arms. He waited in the quiet of the room, listening to the voices of his friends beyond his cracked door. 

Hoagie was talking tech. 

Kuki mentioned a new movie out that no one would agree to go see. 

Abby hummed softly, but it wasn’t a song he knew.


	5. Chapter 5

Nigel jerked awake when he felt himself drifting. He wasn’t sure how long he laid like that, far too aware of every little breath Wally made, every little, barely-there sound of distress he whimpered in his sleep. It was when Wally started nuzzling his nose against Nigel’s neck, breath hot against his skin and fingers weakly trying to hold onto him, that he suspected his friend had fallen into the throes of his heat. 

“Wally,” Nigel tried to nudge him awake. Those hazed green eyes were no longer aware of the room, let alone who he was with. 

Wally’s fingers stroked over Nigel’s chest, fingers catching his chest hair. “You’re masculine.”

Said fingers gently pressed into his thick pectoral muscles. He tried not to flex, but it was hard not to preen under his omega’s compliments. Wally leaned forward and inhaled. Something about the action borderline an alpha’s behavior. Maybe it was a small subset of Wally’s aggressive nature.

He reached lower down, brushing his fingers between Wally’s crevice. Warm slick instantly coated his fingertips, but to his deepest annoyance, his hitter hadn’t put in the spacer like he’d ordered. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

Wally nibbled at the swell of his pectoral muscle, then sighed against his skin. “It feels good when you touch me.”

He kissed the kid’s shoulder, wondering how he’d been so blind to Wally’s true status. His hitter had always been smaller; hiding his lithe frame with oversized clothes. He’d been overly aggressive, successfully burying his demure second gender. He spent so much time in the gym to bulk up.

Nigel wanted everything about Wally’s first knot-induced orgasm to be kept privately between the two of them. In all truth, that’d been taken completely out of his hands the second Wally’s second-gender had been broadcast. The Alliance wanting to quiet his hitter, didn’t help matters either. 

“Please. Please touch me,” Wally openly complained when he pulled away from the omega to reach for the Emergency Heat Kit. His hitter became sticky like an octopus, trying to wrap around his torso to detour his movement. 

“I will give you everything you need, kiddo. I promise.” And so much more, once Wally had time to process his new mated status outside of heat. He expected therapy and a lot of anger management would be required. 

The _”after”_ outcome made him pause. He hadn’t thought about how this would change his life too. He would be more than a handler to this magnificent creature. He’d be Wally’s alpha. 

He threw up the wall between logic and emotion. There’d be time to reflect when their issue wasn’t dire. 

He dug around the silk bag, finding four various sized knotted dildos that could serve as butt plugs. The smaller size would have been preferable, but Wally forwent that option when he didn’t follow his direct order. It really shouldn’t have come as a surprise. 

Wally threw his arms around his shoulders and nuzzled his back. “Please. Please make this stop hurting. You smell so good. I want to smell like you.”

“You will and you’re going to hate me for it,” he grumbled, selecting a medium knotted plug. Hopefully, Wally would be a begging mess before they got to the Alliance. 

“Alpha…. Alpha….” Wally mumbled.

God, that would be music to his ears if guilt wasn’t a rock at the pit of his stomach. There really wasn’t a better cockblock then knowing the person he wanted the connection with would be ready to burn his house down with him inside it the minute he realized they were mated. 

He pulled Wally into a presentation pose and his friend hissed. He could only assume that his omega put too much pressure on his injured arms. He would check the wounds in the car, but their window of opportunity was short, and he had to make the best timing possible. 

“You’re so fucking sexy like this,” Nigel praised, running his hand up Wally’s inner thigh. 

His omega spread his legs and jutted his hips out, giving the perfect view of his hairless, soft, pink sac tight and ready to blow. His omega shaft was nearly hidden by the ridiculous, dusty sheet wrapped around his torso a couple times over. His legs were thin, but shapely from hours spent running. His toes were already curled as if he’d orgasm at any second. 

He found himself bending down behind his mate and drawing his tongue up over Wally’s thigh, coating his tongue with his best friend’s most intimate of releases. Wally would kill him. He should do him the favor and walk off the side of a cliff, but there was no sense in the fact that he kept going, kept lapping at this nectar. 

Wally shivered, dropping his head down into his hands and moaning. Nigel continued with the motion, but moved closer in, licking at the back of Wally’s ball-sac. His best friend moaned, and jutted back, clearly enjoying the attention, so he sucked his hitter’s small balls into his mouth. 

“Yes!” Wally screamed, body shivering as he shot his clear semen onto their nest. 

Nigel halted with his hands on his best friend’s hips and his shaft lined and ready to penetrate. He didn’t remember shifting his position. It happened so fast that the sheer realization that he singlehandedly almost sabotaged his plan left him breathless. 

“Knot me!” Wally turned around and snapped. 

Nigel jerked back, barely missing the flat omega teeth aiming for his arm. Apparently, no one bothered to tell Wally that omegas don’t bite. “Damnit kid, you’re still impatient.”

Wally pressed his hips back, meeting Nigel’s pelvis. He took that moment to push the smooth, rubber toy into his omega’s hole. Wally bucked back, harder than his body should have, but the bulbous part latched perfectly. Sadly, it was a reminder that when he knotted Wally hard and fast, it had the potential of tearing despite the elasticity.

“Please, please knot me. I need a knot,” Wally moaned into the sheets, not at all placated by the toy. 

“Soon, baby, so soon.” He gathered his hitter, finding it surprisingly easy to carry him with Wally’s legs wrapped around his torso and arms around his neck.

“Is it time?” Abby asked, kicking away from the card table where she played cards with Hoagie. Her hand was on her backpack and the keys were in her hand, having set them within reach. Good ol’ Abby, always organized and ready.

“Yeah, we need to get this done.” Before he lost his nerve. His conscious already berated him on the fact that Wally trusted him, and he was doing this against his best friend’s will. When Wally asked for his help, he was pretty sure his friend didn’t mean this.

But his hands were tied, and his options were short. 

“Here, hand him up,” Hoagie said from the passenger seat with his arms open. Despite his much slimmer frame, their engineer was strong. 

The problem was, Wally didn’t want to let go of his hold and Nigel didn’t want to risk his hitter ripping his stitches. His grip tightened around Nigel’s body, his frame shaking with the effort, determined not to let anyone put space between their bodies. “Please. Please knot me. Please. Please make this stop hurting.”

“You’re going to get my knot, kid, and my complete loyalty, but we need to get in the car. Go to Hoagie. He’s an alpha too,” Nigel said. He’d be lying if he said his inner alpha wasn’t pleased that Wally was so possessive and only managed to stay difficult. 

With Abby’s help, the three of them got him up into the jeep. Nigel ran a hand over his bare stomach, surprised by the tremor under his skin. The military grade blockers wouldn’t allow his body chemistry to throw him into a rut, no matter the fact that his inner dialogue started referring to Wally as his mate and said mate was in heat. 

“What’s our estimated time of arrival?” Nigel asked, pulling himself into the jeep. He wouldn’t tell the team to keep the windows up, needing the mind fucking scent to not only get him hard, but to push him over the edge. It was up to his team how much of this they could handle. 

From the glances that kept skirting to Wally, he could tell they had the similar concerns. This might technically be the hardest thing for Wally to deal with once he comes down from the hormonal surge. Needy wasn’t in their hitter’s vocabulary. 

“I’ve been listening to the traffic report all day sir. From here, it should be roughly twenty minutes to headquarters,” Abby stated, pressing on the gas and careening back in the direction of civilization. 

Nigel refused to give his brain a chance to dispute. Instead, he took Wally back, needing the overly hot and incredibly delicious smelling body to rock against his hardness. He pushed his hand down the elastic of his scrub pants and wrapped his fingers around his pulsing shaft. His heavy sac was already drawn up and his knot throbbed, ready to latch and fully expand. It would be a whole lotta semen and a mess once it did pop. 

Wally shivered against him, slick dripping through Nigel’s scrub pants to his hardness. It was more of a mindfuck than he needed. This left him hungry to claim. Even his gums ached, teeth wanting to sink into Wally’s virgin flesh. It was nearly impossible to find a virgin omega at this age. They usually had assigned alphas to get them through their heat. 

“I need you. I need you so bad….” Wally cried, burying his face into Nigel’s neck. 

“You have me, kid. You’ve always had me.” Nigel caught Wally’s hips and gently guided his body to a gentle rutting motion. It felt so good having his best friend’s body right there, warming his. This strong, solid body; this aggressive athlete, the beautiful, wild creature that burst with energy and inner strength was more than an omega, he was Nigel’s very soul.

“Passing 7th Avenue and Skyton. We’ll be there in ten,” Abby announced, taking a corner tightly. 

Wally continued to rock against him, lacking any real motion. He rubbed his nose up Nigel’s neck and Nigel gritted his teeth to keep from moaning. It was embarrassing enough that he was this sexually stimulated in front of his team. Fucking in public wasn’t unheard of and what he was about to do wouldn’t land him in hot water, but he’d never been a public stud.

“Game plan, sir?” Hoagie said. The car came to life with movement as his team readied their gear. Hoagie started putting on the arsenal that sat on the floor board between his legs. 

“Public claiming in front of the office. It’s going to take maybe three minutes at best. Park on the sidewalk as close as you can to the building. I just need to latch and bite,” Nigel said. 

He reached around Wally’s back and pulled the plug out. Hot slick gushed out of his omega’s hole, washing over his hand as he dropped the plug to the floor. The way his hitter threw his head back with abandon, the way he grinded down on Nigel, was enough to make his balls draw up. 

He squeezed his knot and it popped, sending an orgasm sparking every cell of his being. His brain went white with the explosion of utter bless. He rutted up into his hand, lost in the euphoria. He barely registered the way his body jolted with the car as it went up over the sidewalk. 

“Lock and loaded, we’re coming in hot,” Abby said.

“Agents on all sides. They must have been expecting this,” Kuki said. Her voice was muffled by the way his blood pounded in his ears. 

He barely comprehended the constant feed from his team around him.

“They have tranquilizer guns. Nigel, you have to do this now. We aren’t going to have time,” Hoagie said. 

The jeeps jarring halt managed to clear his haze. He strained at the angle he sat, pulling a couple muscles in his neck and shoulder as he got the scrubs down far enough to expose his shaft. There was so much semen in his scrub pants and jetting across their bodies that he now sat in a warm puddle of his continuing spunk. He’d always been proud of his massive length and size, but at the moment, his pride dimmed with his fear that he would hurt Wally.

“Forgive me, okay,” he mumbled, more to himself than Wally. If his hitter never forgave him, it would be understandable. If he never forgave himself, it’d be hard living with his guilt. 

He pressed his mushroom tip against Wally’s clenching hole and was rewarded by sweet heat as Wally sunk himself down. The only clear sign that his omega felt pain, was in the way he tried to dig his nails into Nigel’s shoulder, but his severe injuries wouldn’t allow for force. 

“Fuck. They’re coming fast. There’s too many of them.” Abby growled. 

“Nigel, hurry!” Hoagie sounded stress. 

Nigel clutched Wally’s hips and forced the omega down over his fully expanded knot. Wally screamed in pain, something Nigel would mirror if he could catch his breath. He saw stars for the second time in less than five minutes, but this time, it was due to the horrendous agony. 

He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t draw air into his lungs. The muscle that clutched his knot made him sick. 

“Bite him!” Hoagie’s voice mixed with Kuki’s. 

Nigel pulled Wally close. He sunk his teeth into Wally’s collar bone right as his door was shoved open and warm sunlight fell over his side. Coppery blood filled his mouth as Wally’s body tightened more around his knot, milking him for all he was worth. Having a warm, willing hole made a huge difference. 

“Nobody move. You’re surrounded.” A male voice ordered. 

If he died right now, at least he’d know heaven on earth. He held his omega, while Wally trembled and cried in his arms, squishing his spent semen between their stomachs. He hurt his omega. He knew he had. 

“Hoagie, check Wally for blood,” Nigel ordered.

“I said no one move. I’m serious Agent Uno,” the teen, Rocco, said. They knew each other from school, both were seniors and shared two AP classes together. 

Nigel kept his hands firmly on Wally’s hips, listening to his best friend softly cry. “We’re latched. I’m not going anywhere for a good forty minutes.”

Or longer, if Wally’s tight muscles were any indication. A semi knot would pop right out, but he suspected Wally’s body wouldn’t let him free that easily. 

Secretary of Warfare, Chloe Duemond’s floral perfume filled the small space. “Congratulations Agent Uno, you win the dumbass of the year award. You realize taking a mate is going to influence your ability to move up in your sector.” 

He chuckled, exhausted but relieved. Wally was safe from the Alliance. “I believe cigars are a customary form of congratulations in America.”

“Lung cancer. Yes, that’s always the way to kick off a mile marker in one’s life. I’ll see you in my office in a couple of days.” With that, she left him in the car with his prize.

 

oOo

 

His knot was almost fully deflated before there was enough space for it to pop loose from the death grip Wally’s body had on him. He cupped his lover’s head up against his shoulder a second longer, not wanting to wake Wally to his new nightmare. He hadn’t bothered to tell Chloe that Wally’s heat was breaking in case he misread the tell-tell signs.

“Hey champ, are you with me?” He nudged the sleeping omega. 

Wally shivered and tried to push away from him. Those big, green eyes stared at him like he was a stranger. “Nigel?”

Wally’s attention drifted down between them, his nose crinkling at the smell of sperm and slick. His throat bobbed hard when he swallowed. 

“You’re safe, okay. I secured your place with the team.” Nigel caught his hitter’s arms only to have Wally shove him away.

“What did you do, Nigel? You fucking- you… you fucking claimed me?” His voice quivered as he tried to scoot off his lap. Wally didn’t get far before he doubled in on himself. “Oh God! I’m fucking claimed!”

“And here we go with the theatrics,” Abby said, monotone as she hung by the open car door. His entire team waited with him, unwilling to leave him under the mercy of the Alliance security.

“Where’s my clothes? I need clothes,” Wally growled, searching around the car before pulling his legs up against his chest and rocking. He looked years younger in this vulnerable state. 

“Still feel like a win, sir?” Abby asked, shucking off her army vest and handing it over.

“Don’t touch me!” Wally snarled, trying to shove Nigel back when he tried to put it on him. 

He caught Wally around the waist and his other hand came up under Wally’s chin. “You need to calm down and listen to me. If I could have bought us enough time for you to think about this, I would have, but there wasn’t another way. We don’t have months to brainstorm another solution.”

“Oh! So you’re my white knight? I should roll over now because you have this whole thing figured out? I’ll just sit on the sidelines and wait for your beck-and-call?” Anger burned in his eyes, giving the green a sheen of reflection. “I’ll tell you something right now! I’m never going to be the omega you want.”

Nigel drew his hand to the back of Wally’s neck and squeezed. The pressure instantly made Wally’s eyes haze. It was a strange defect that happened to all omegas, like they never grew out of it from their pup stage. 

He wanted to lick the angry, purple bruise around the scabbed bite on Wally’s shoulder. It took all his discipline to stay focused. “You will still respect me as your captain. I stand by what I said, my team will not be separated. Now, if you can pull yourself together, we can go inside and shower.” 

Wally sighed and the tension left his body, much like it always did after a particularly hard football game or mission, when they sat on the couch together. He knew that sigh like he knew Wally’s tics. “Fine, but only because I want to get your smell off me.”

Nigel let him go and threw his guard up. It wouldn’t do either of them good if Wally knew how much his rejection hurt. He got out of the jeep first and didn’t bother offering Wally a hand. His omega wouldn’t take it. Much like an injured bird, he would try his hardest to appear normal, but Nigel could see straight through that mask as well. 

“Fuck,” Wally growled, holding the car door for balance. He looked shaky and pale. His eyes scanned their surroundings and for a second, it almost looked like he was going to go back into the car. 

“Wally,” Nigel warned. 

“Yeah, yeah!” Wally hummed under his breath, taking Abby’s vest and pulling it around his lower body. 

Nigel ignored the glances from his team and the security as they walked as a group into the facility. Wally shuffled, a hand over his stomach and shoulders tight. There was a red tint to the slick and semen that dripped down the back of Wally’s calves, but his best friend looked hardened, like the hitter he was.

“Nigel, there’s mail in your office,” the secretary greeted them in high heels and hair up in a high ponytail. She was a beta but looked from Nigel to Wally with heartbreak. 

“Thank you, Julie. Hold my calls and please print my schedule for the month,” Nigel said, continuing his slow pace towards the communal showers, aware that Wally wasn’t walking as fast. 

His best friend tugged at the vest, clearly embarrassed by his nudity and that he’d been publicly claimed, even if it was less than twenty witnesses. They got to the locker room and instead of stopping at the lockers, Wally continued walking. 

It took everything in Nigel not to follow his friend. Instead, he discarded his soppy clothing into the wash bin and popped his locker open for a few of his private necessities. His attention honed in on the closed shower curtain with the vest laying on the ground outside the cube. Wally was completely hidden, and silent with the water slapping against the tile. 

“You know Wally. No one has a stronger shell than that kid. He’s gonna be okay, Nigel,” Abby said, clapping his shoulder and squeezing, showing her support. 

He stripped down and didn’t wait for the water to warm. He washed a couple times over, until he was sure Wally’s scent didn’t linger on him, then he turned the water off. “I’m going to meet with Madam Secretary. Keep an eye on him.”

“Are you moving him into your room?” Abby asked. Her damp hair fell the length of her torso so her hips. She paused in her washing to watch him.

Life would be a lot simpler if he did, but he had a feeling Wally needed space to think this over. “No, but I’d appreciate it if you’d do a couple of things to keep this situation contained. I hate what I had to do.”

“I don’t. For a second, I thought it’d be me that would have to do it,” Hoagie said. He turned the facet off and stepped over to where his towel hung. 

Kuki threw her head back, laughing. “Oh-My-God! He would have eaten you alive! You really think you could have handled him at his worst?”

“Exactly why it had to be Nigel.” Hoagie stated, then turned his attention to him. “You’re the only one he’s ever really listened to. You’re like the lion tamer here.”

“And yet a lion would still be friendlier,” Nigel hummed under his breath as he toweled off. He glanced over to the individual stall, debating on if he should check in, then decided against it. Wally needed space. 

“The medics offered a little help with general welfare. I’m not one to tell you what to do, but I think it’d be a good idea, just to get him through his sordid emotions.” Abby kept her voice low, though the space they centered would still echo.

Nigel inwardly sighed, making a note to talk with the medics. “Make sure he’s not soaking those stitches.”

With that, he got dressed and left Wally in Abby’s hands. He trusted his second to handle him. Eventually, they’d need to discuss the new dynamics, after Wally went through excessive therapy. No matter what his little omega said, the kid had every intention of bleeding to death back in that prison. 

Any omega that chose death over the reality of his second-gender, needed to be closely watched, because Wally would do it again. That was something he didn’t doubt and he’d do everything in his power to not push Wally into feeling trapped.


	6. Chapter 6

Chloe waited in the conference hall. Daunting was the best way to describe it as she sat, fingers crossed and eyes like daggers. “I talked with the higherups and they want to keep you in the field. That’s going to be an issue now that you have an omega.”

“I won’t break my bond with him, willingly,” Nigel warned when the silence lingered a fraction too long. They were both alphas and he had no intention of letting her get the upper hand.

“I didn’t take you for a family man. Lucky for you, the agency is willing to keep your entire team onboard, but you will have to prove Wally won’t be a point of weakness. You understand, correct?” Chloe asked. Her hand reached over to the black box that nearly faded into the backdrop of her wood table.

“Wally can handle himself. He always has.” Yet, he couldn’t speak with confidence that after today, Wally wouldn’t go down to the lab and get a cyanide pill. Thank God, Abby was with him. She took the mama bear role seriously where Wally was concerned. 

Chloe lifted the lid on the box and let it fall back, exposing the black collar and a needle gun. “I want him chipped immediately. The collar is self-explanatory. He needs to understand where he stands with the agency now.”

“What? That he’s no better than a pet? He’s not going to go for this.” Nigel stared when she shoved the box to the center of the table.

“You publicly humiliated him. You think he’s not going to want revenge?” She stood so she could stare down at him.

Kudos that he didn’t react to that statement, though it was salt in his wound. “I trust him. He won’t do anything to destroy the team.”

Or their bond. He wasn’t sure how long it would take Wally to realize this was perfect for both of them. They were finally able to act out on the metaphysical imprint they forged a long time back.

“You give him too much credit, Agent Uno. You know, as well as your team and anyone that has worked with Wally, destruction and chaos follows that child everywhere.” With her statement, she left the room and him alone with the box.

 

oOo 

 

A heavy, mind-blowing shudder ran through Wally’s body, startling him awake with a single name still warm on his lips. It quickly followed pain that rushed up his arms forcing him to let go of the sheets he’d been clutching. 

“Fuck!” He rolled onto his back as the pain ebbed deeply. The fresh smell of slick and sperm didn’t make matters any better. His wet dream left him horny and with the one person he never saw as anything more than a good leader… now, he was a fucking _wet dream_. “Fuck my life.”

The light switched on. “Having some problems there, squirt?” 

Abby sat on the bunk across from him and Kuki stared down at him from her top bunk over Abby’s. Hoagie stood by the light switch, closest to the door. There went his last ounce of dignity. He pulled the sheet over his head for a second, but the smell only reminded him that he was wet for his leader.

He threw the sheets back and tried to sit, only to be met with a heavy dizziness. He knew this feeling. He’d been sedated before, a couple times, when their missions went south, and they were in the enemy’s campground. “What did you put in my food?”

“Had to make sure you slept through the night,” Abby said, matter of fact. She leaned forward with her arms resting on her knees and eyed him with medical scrutiny.

“Screw you, Abs. You didn’t have to be sneaky about it. I would’ve taken your narcotics.” When the room stopped spinning, he stood, holding onto the side of the bed for support. No one offered to help, and he was grateful. He couldn’t stand them thinking he might be fragile, even more so now that his secret was out. 

“They aren’t street drugs, kid. They’re FDA approved medicines.” Abby followed him to the bathroom and the anger wasn’t there to argue her away, so he kept his back to her and tried to undress. After a couple minutes of struggling, she came over and helped him. It was embarrassing. 

The bathroom was empty this early in the morning, which made the air both moist and cool. Somehow, the coldness only made him more aware of his hot flesh and the ache deep in his belly. He started towards the stall with the curtain, but changed course when Abby cleared her throat, an alpha warning. 

_Fuck!_ It only took one knotting and he was already answering to subtle alpha navigation.

“Quick shower to rinse off and then we’re going to have to change your wet bandages,” Abby warned. He rolled his eyes but followed her command.

He let the water rinse off his sperm and slick. It was the best he could do. The night before, he tried to use the neutral, beta-blocker soap, but it was too slippery, and his fingers wouldn’t grasp properly. When he was done, Abby waited with a towel and her medical equipment sat out along the bench. He toweled off the best he could, but the effort left him hurting. 

“I need something for the pain.” He might as well cut off his arms with how bad they felt. His arse didn’t fair much better either. It ached, both with want and from the pain of having something so large jammed into him. He still couldn’t comprehend what Nigel had been thinking. Worse, he wished more than anything that he’d been a little more conscious. He wished he could have smelled Nigel outside of his weird heat fever. He wished he could remember something pleasant that would make all the fear reside. 

Had Nigel even fingered him? 

“You’re blushing,” Abby smirked.

He held the towel as close to his body as he could. “The water was hot.”

“Ah-huh, sure Jane.” Abby took his offered arm and started unwrapping the bandage, exposing the mess he made from his wrist to the bend of his elbow. She whistled knowingly under her breath.

There were a couple of stray lines, given that the needle was so thin. He had shoved it into his skin a couple of times on his left, determined to leave this world with his freedom. Abby would never understand the darkness that settled in once the world knew his true designation. 

“Don’t faint on me,” Abby warned.

The stitches were black, wire things that looked like spider legs. The skin was puckered, deep red and a little white in some areas. He felt dizzy staring at it, like it was someone else’s life he glimpsed at through their eyes. Wally swallowed hard. “What? Me? Nah.”

His legs gave out and he found himself in someone’s arms. They were strong, but not possessive. He glanced over his shoulders, hoping for Nigel, but surprised it was Hoagie. His techie friend offered him a smile as Abby finished changing the wet wraps. 

“Man, Wally. You never do anything half-assed,” Hoagie chuckled. 

Kuki skipped into the room holding clothes over her arm. It was a navy-blue omega jumper with a thin pair of lace boy shorts. “We got your school uniform!”

Oh Hell No! He was not going to walk around dressed like an omega. He might as well wear a shirt with an arrow pointing to his bum. “What do you want me to do with that?”

“Wear it, kiddo. Captain’s order. Don’t fight me on this, because I will win.” Abby took the clothes from Kuki and thrust the items into his hand. He stared at it long enough that Abby drew his towel that he held to his hips. “Don’t think about it, kiddo.”

She was gentle with the towel, dotting his shoulders and down his back and inner thighs. It made him feel like a pup. Hoagie stayed close enough that he could feel his presence, but he didn’t look back at his team as Abby helped him step into the lacy boy shorts and then the thin cotton material of the jumper. The bunched elastic made it hug right under his kneecaps and again around the waist like some cutesy omega, which he was not. He was a bruised omega, inside and out. He hardly felt pretty and hated that the outfit’s cut highlighted things he really tried to damper down.

The shoulder straps were thin and buttoned at the high apron chest made for modesty. Still, he felt exposed. “Where’s the undershirt?”

“Your claim mark needs to show since you aren’t being scented,” Abby stated, no skin off her back. 

Yet, it made his skin crawl. Did he need to be scented? And as much as he attested it, why would Nigel forgo such a huge alpha trait? He glanced at himself in the mirror, far paler than he should be and the bitemark was freshly scabbed over with the many tints of a bruise surrounding it. “This makes me feel like a pup.”

“You won’t have to wear it the rest of your life. Nigel just needs a little time to figure out how he’s going to get the team back on track. Once we graduate, things will change again,” she promised.

“I can’t walk around like this for four months! I look like a cruddy omega!” He growled, already hating the way the fabric slid across his skin like pajamas. Worst of all, people would wonder about the bandages on both his arms. 

As if Abby read his thoughts, she threw him a thin knit sweater with the school’s emblem. God! This probably meant he was off the football team and there was no way the swim team would be comfortable with him. 

“What about my hair? I can’t go out with it like this!” He hated the way his hair looked when it was down and had a curl to it. He liked it spiked. It made him feel dangerous. At least they didn’t take his industrial earring.

“I can put it up for you if you have a problem with it,” Abby said, with a glint of humor in her eyes. She was enjoying this. 

“Like a cruddy ponytail?” he rolled his eyes, not sure if that would be worse. 

“Or a manbun,” Kuki said behind him, taking a hairband from around her wrist and tying his hair up into a said manbun. It wasn’t incredibly girly, given that the sides of his head were shaved. 

Wally followed them out of the bathroom, utterly insecure about his clothes and the bitemark on his neck. It wasn’t a walk of shame, necessarily, though many of the alphas and betas present did stare. With his shoulders back and head high, he nodded a greeting to them, but inwardly, he knew that some of those glares were because omegas weren’t accepted as field agents. Their stop in the kitchen was short; everyone getting a soda, but the cafeteria clerk handed him a small bottle of orange juice, a banana and a sealed cup of what looked like oatmeal, while the team got a hardier breakfast. 

He sunk onto the bench and watched them inhale their food. He even ignored Abby’s growl that he needed to eat. Only when she seemed truly frustrated, did he pop the lid off the oatmeal and stared at the gunk before taking a few tentative bites. He kept scanning the cafeteria for Nigel, but his lead was absent. After breakfast when they headed out, he became truly disturbed that Nigel hadn’t caught up yet. Worry tightened his gut. 

“Wait! What about Nigel?” He couldn’t believe he was even asking it. He didn’t exactly understand the hum of static under his skin that kept him uncomfortable but a small part of him said he’d feel so much better if his captain was nearby. It was stupid.

“He’s taking the motorcycle.” Abby watched him through the review mirror, so he broke eye contact first to stare out the window. 

The drive was short, considering they went to a private school. There was a gate around campus, and he handed over his school id card to Abby who gave it to the guard. It took a minute for him to badge them in, and then he waved them on through. She parked the car and Wally sat in the back seat for a long second, hating that his entire life had changed in a matter of seconds. How did the Teen Ninjas even know? He’d been so careful, which wasn’t a talent that came natural to him. His second-gender had never been registered. 

He got out of the car slowly and glanced over at the line of motorcycles parked at the front. Nigel’s cherry red Yamaha MT-10 wasn’t present. He bit his bottom lip and tugged the sweater closed, feeling self-conscious in the jumper. He never really needed anyone to hide behind, but he found himself walking a little closer to Abby and Hoagie. Kuki slid off ahead of them to talk with her cheerleader friends. 

He nearly keeled over when he walked through the double doors and no one approached them. Despite himself, he could feel the heat rushing to his face. He felt smaller. He was, but now, he actually felt the smallness. He broke away from his team to head towards his class when a hand caught his shoulder.

“Nah-uh, champ, you got a new schedule,” Abby said, swinging him down a corridor he never walked through. 

Dread crawled up his spine. He dug his feet into the ground, nearly tripping Abby. “No way! No! I’m not going into the pup room.”

“You’re overreacting,” Abby said. Her chin tightened. He knew that look. She was prepared to push her dominance.

He dropped his bookbag, ready for a throwdown. Abby’s alpha frame would be denser than his, but he didn’t pass for an alpha without holding his own. He had some techniques that would give him the upper hand.

“Boy, I ain’t playing with you,” she warned.

“I’m not bending on this, Abs. I’m not spending my day in a pup room. I stopped playing house in kindergarten!” He growled. 

 

oOo

 

Nigel kicked away from the wall when Abby came out of the omega room. The scent of baby powder and lavender wafted from the slowly closing door. He had a brief glance inside to the shag carpet, pastel walls and the bright window with several bee and flower suncatchers. “Is he settled?”

“Not without a fight,” she answered, rubbing her hip. “You know he’s not going to stay put. Are you planning on staying out here to guard the door?”

Nigel chuckled softly, easily burying his sense of apprehension as Abby fell in step beside him. They shared the same homeroom, stuck with AP Calculus for their first class. “I’ve already talked with his teacher. She’ll send a direct text to me if he bails.”

Abby shook her head. “I’m surprised you don’t have him on a short leash. The boy be crazy.”

That wasn’t an understatement.

Abby stopped him outside their classroom. The halls were now empty, and the soft drone of the teacher’s voice sounded through the door. “Hey, he’s been asking about you, more than normal. It’s not like him to be this anxious.”

“He’s probably feeling a little unbalanced. It happens to newly mated omegas,” Nigel said.

Abby’s dark eyes roved over his face. “He’s going to test you and that ain’t something I say lightly. We’re not talking about your run-of-the-mill feisty omega.”

“Then I need to come out on top of this little pissing contest.” Nigel smirked. He didn’t doubt he his success. He had better discipline and never reacted immediately to his initial gut reaction, though that could change if Wally were in trouble again. His best friend however, acted first and thought second. He loved Wally’s spirit and the kid was truthful to his emotions, which meant, Wally’s emotions were always at the forefront of his behavior.

Abby chuckled as they entered the class together. 

“Hey Nigel, you need help taming the little wilder beast, let me know,” Sampson called from the back of the room. 

“How many omegas have you successfully trained, Sampson?” Nigel answered, dropping his bookbag to the ground. 

Sampson’s smile was tight as he laced his hands behind his head and leaned back in his seat. “To be truthful, Nigel, there are quite a few alphas here that would take Wally in a heartbeat. Who hasn’t dreamt of taming a feral omega? Is his ass as tight as it looks? Did his muscles crack your knot?”

That got a few chuckles from the people around them. 

“That’s enough, Sampson. Nigel, Abby, thank you for finally joining the class this morning. Open your books to page two-hundred and thirty.” Their teacher stood sternly at the blackboard.

Nigel buried himself in his schoolwork and tried to think about the mission the commander gave him.

 

oOo

 

“I can’t believe Nigel chose you as his mate,” Lizzie said, a little bitter and a lot of sadness in her tone. Her red hair was rolled into a bun. Much like Hoagie, she’d dropped a bit of weight, but unlike Hoagie, her checks were still roundish, making her look young. 

“I can’t either,” Wally answered. They sat on pillows on the ground around a Japanese table. It was snack time and the three teachers dressed in light pink scrubs, handed out juice boxes and graham crackers with peanut butter. It was better than breakfast, so he shoved his extremely small portion in his mouth, wondering how he was going to keep his muscle mass if he kept eating like a bird. 

“I remember my first time with Nigel. It was outside of a heat, so I was completely aware of everything he did. He really loved my breasts. He’d suck on them until I lost it, then he’d lick around my belly button and down to my sweet pot,” Lizzie said. Her gray eyes sparkled with her pleasant memory.

His jealousy instantly flared. It made his skin so hot that he pulled the sweater off, then regretted it when the table of omegas stared at the spot on his neck where Nigel claimed him. 

Good! He was the winner!

No. Wait. It wasn’t a win for him. He was a claimed omega. 

A claimed omega that the alpha didn’t even check on today. Sadness. 

Wow, he really hated all these uncontained feelings.

“What about that shaft of his! I could suck on him for days.” Lynn said, motioning the sizable length with her hand. She pushed her long, dark hair over her shoulders, then glanced at Wally. “He’s worked his way through the school, so no doubt, he’d want to conquer a friend too.”

“It’s not like that. We had—” he cut himself off. He couldn’t defend Nigel’s decision without letting a little information go, and the Alliance wouldn’t like that. That was the reason they wanted to shut him up, after all. He growled under his breath and shoved another cracker into his mouth. “He’s doing me a favor.”

The table of omegas laughed while soft classical music played in the background. The sunlight came in lazy and warm through the large windows and the room itself smelled like baby powder and lavender. Everything was meant to keep omegas calm, but it wasn’t working for him. He was suffocating in the stupid outfit surrounded by stupid omegas with stupid notions. 

And obviously, Nigel was mad at him for having to do this. That was the only explanation on why he now kept his distance. 

Well, that was fine, because he was mad at Nigel too. His bottom ached, both from the pressure of the knot and now, from NOT having that knot, which his weird omega mind really wanted. And he wanted to remember what it felt like with Nigel’s teeth in his neck. Was their coupling cut and dry? Had there been nothing more than a rush job to get it done? 

“It must have been some favor he owed you, because the claiming is a little far. He promised me his mark,” Lizzie said. Her eyes drilled holes through him.

“He promised me that too, and I plan on still taking it. I hope you don’t mind sharing an alpha since it’s legal to have many omega wives in our state,” Gigi said. Her and her twin sister Gili, giggled behind their hands.

“I don’t care. Whatever. Like I said, he’s doing me a favor. I don’t care what he does,” Wally answered, taking a long sip of his drink due to the sudden dryness of his mouth. He didn’t care what Nigel did. The stupid alpha could do whatever he wanted. It was no skin off his back.

“Recess,” Ms. Calhoun announced. She stood blocking the doorway as if her slight frame would really keep the door shut. Lucky for her, he was in the class and if there was a real threat, he could do more about it.

“Finally!” he growled, first to stand as he pulled the sweater back on. He’d already listened to four bells and was promptly told that wasn’t for them. The bathroom was inside the classroom, so he couldn’t use that as an escape route. It felt stifling. 

They walked out together, with a teacher at the front and two teachers in the back and to his surprise, the two security guards that walked around campus. Did they always follow the omegas out into the field? He wondered if he could outrun them if he made a break for it. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay in this peculiar confinement.

At least the sun felt wonderful on his skin. The field had been freshly mowed and the smell of cut grass tinted the air. He started towards the track when a hand caught his shoulder.

Mrs. Calhoun’s jaw was tight. “Where are you heading?”

“To run.” Wally threw his hand at the empty track. Just beyond it, a mixed group of juniors and seniors were playing soccer.

“Obedient omegas sit on the bench and watch the upperclassmen.” She ushered him over to the bottom bench and with gentle pressure on his shoulder, he sat with the other twenty omegas.

“There’s Nigel,” Lizzie said. Several the omegas stood up hollering for Nigel’s attention. Even Wally found himself scanning the group of students that came out of the double doors and were now crossing the field. Nigel was indeed walking beside Abby, Hoagie and Kuki. No one looked his way and that tore at his heart. 

Lizzie scooted to the bottom bench beside him. “He is the best alpha at this school. If he calmed you, it was probably out of pity, which is too bad, because you’ll only complicate his life.”

He watched Nigel stand around to chat with a few of his many friends. He was tall and from the distance, he could see how much broader in the chest and shoulders, Nigel was than him, and though his alpha lead worked out hard, he didn’t have to work nearly as hard as Wally did to get the body he had. 

 

oOo

 

“I’m surprised that boy is sitting so well behaved,” Abby said, looking over Nigel’s shoulder. 

It took every effort he had not to glance at his new mate. The stiff body part in his shorts highly agreed to that difficulty as well. He wanted to pull his best friend back into his bedroom and repeatedly knot him until they had a child together. The sheer thought of being that intimate with the person he was the most frustrated with and yet, knew in his heart they belonged together, made everything worse. 

“How sweet! Lizzie is sitting next to him keeping him company.” Kuki raised her hand. 

Hoagie caught her wrist and forced it back down. “We’re giving him his space when he’s with the omegas. Remember?” 

“You think your tough love is going to work, sir?” Abby asked with a raised brow. The whistle blew, saving him from having to answer her.

A couple of times he got turned around on the field and glanced over at the group. Lucky for him, that didn’t set him back on his determination to give Wally space, because the kid hadn’t been looking at the field. By the time the whistle blew for them to go inside and change, the omegas were gone. That took a little stress off his shoulders, but once inside the locker room, when he rounded the corner to where his locker stood, Wally sat on the bench. His legs were crisscrossed and his hands rested on his kneecaps. He almost looked tranquil like someone in a yoga pose. 

He immediately unfurled his legs and jumped up, cute as could be even with his brows knitted. “How dare you leave me in such a stupid room, Nigel!” 

“How did you—” The second Nigel started to ask; an alert that his omega was unaccounted for, came through his text messages. He sent a quick text back letting Mrs. Calhoun know that Wally was with him.

“They have snack time, Nigel! We’re forced to watch birthing videos and we practice our cooking and sewing! The only thing I want to sew are my own war wounds!” He growled. His sweater slid off his shoulder, exposing the angry bitemark that Nigel had gifted him. It looked painful. 

Nigel gently pushed Wally back onto the bench before popping his locker open. He started to undress, while listening to Wally’s continuous rant about smells, music and pillows. “Can you stay put?”

“Why?” Wally asked. His eyes never left Nigel’s.

Nigel tried to debate if this was a bad thing. Most omegas that were sexually interested in an alpha were always curious about their shafts, knots and the bloody size of their nut sacks. He’d been asked that a million times by omegas. Wally, however, didn’t seem to share that interest. “Because I’m going to shower. I still have two more classes and I have no plans to walk around here smelling like a grass field and sweat.”

Wally rolled his eyes but followed him to the showers before sitting heavily on the edge of the bench. The problem was, there were many alphas present and Nigel noticed more than not, that all of them kept their focus on the little blond that had once shared their gym class. It now made sense why Wally never showered after class, not that he ever really stunk given all the blockers he wore. 

However, his hitter kept his attention laser focused on Nigel. He was almost overbearing, afraid that if he blinked, Nigel would disappear and that would make him even angrier. God, the little blond was gorgeous like this. He was as wild as he usually looked. 

Nigel showered quickly, turned the water off, grabbed his towel and was thankful that Wally followed along beside him like a little lost puppy, though technically, the omega probably saw it more like a guard dog. He finished toweling off, though the quiet between them grew uncomfortable. He had to say something. “How did you sleep last night?”

Wally snorted. “Drugged.”

“Breakfast?” Nigel pulled on his boxer briefs, then his jeans, glancing over his shoulder at Wally who now stared at the bench he sat on. There wasn’t a reason in the world to think Wally was there for sex. The kid didn’t give one clue of it.

“Bland. Stupid food that I’d never eat in a million years. I don’t like people choosing things for me,” he growled.

Nigel nodded, pulling on his shirt, socks and shoes. He gathered his backpack and started towards the door when the bell rang for lunch. 

“Your classmates?” He was almost unsure if he should even ask that.

“Lizzie is the worst! I can’t believe you dated her!” He fell in line, matching Nigel’s long stride. 

Abby, Hoagie and Kuki met them at the door.

“I’ll catch up with you guys at lunch, got to get him back to class,” Nigel said.

Wally stopped walking. “I told you I hate it there. It’s not even a real classroom.”

“Doesn’t matter. I can’t babysit you. I have to be prepared for the finals if I’m going to get into a competitive program.” He stopped walking when he realized Wally wasn’t beside him. 

His best friend stood, shoulders back and chin down. “I’m not going back to those stupid omega classes.”

Nigel inwardly sighed. He didn’t expect this to be easy. Why would it be when Wally never made anything easy. He stepped forward and Wally stepped back. The absurdity made him chuckle, short and loud. “You’re kidding me, right? If you make me chase you down, I will carry you back into that room and handcuff you to the ballet bar.”

“You wouldn’t dare?” Wally hissed. He didn’t look so certain about that though.

“Try me, Wally.” He answered, hoping he looked as neutral as his voice had dropped.

Wally shoved past him and walked down the hall in the direction of his classroom. He stopped at the door, turning back to address him. “I thought you, of all people would understand this better.”

With that, he went back into his classroom and Nigel stood there feeling more crushed than he should. He did understand it, better than Wally did. They had enemies and that was bigger than his little omegas ego; for now.


	7. Chapter 7

“Where’s Nigel?” Wally asked, hating that he sounded a little needy. He bit the inside of his cheeks and waited for the jokes. It never came. Luckily, he was towards the very end of the day for everyone and he was the last omega in the stupid pup room.

“He’s following some leads.” Abby scribbled her name to the sign out sheet sitting by the door. With a snap of her wrist, he’d been signed out of the classroom like a toddler. 

“He took a lead by himself?” Wally followed her out of the room. The school seemed eerie without the other students. The lockers were lined like awaiting cyborg pods. The hall echoed every squeak of their shoes. There were no windows to see the setting sun.   
The omega classroom held omegas longer than other classes due to a lot of the alphas having afterschool activities, something that made him even more restless. 

“He’s equipped to handle it himself. Chad pretty much saw to all his training. You know he’s good,” Abby said, then shifted her stance to eye him. “But if you’re so concerned, I can call him?”

“No!” he practically shouted. He didn’t need Nigel getting the wrong idea, especially since he didn’t know what he was thinking yet. It was a weird little tick in his chest that told him he really needed to see his best friend. It was dumb, but he’d felt it before, completely out of the blue, sometimes at night when he slept alone in his bedroom at his parents’ house. 

He was suddenly grateful for the empty hall. He really didn’t want to be subjected to the football team seeing him in a stupid omega jumper. It was bad enough that he lost his place on all the sports teams he was involved with. He wasn’t sure his ego could take the teasing. 

He stopped in the doorway for a second, embarrassed to let the world see him like this. Abby held the door open and smiled, like nothing had changed, but they both know it had. So, he slid out into the sun, grateful for the ability to finally thaw. The omega rooms were kept too cool for the pregnant omegas, though there were only two ready to pop and one that had just recently conceived. He brushed his hand over his stomach, wondering if he had conceived. 

“Abby… uh… how many times did Nigel and I take a go at it?” Wally asked, following her down the steps. There were very few cars still in the parking lot and the cherry red motorcycle was gone. He felt really alone, restless and turned around. 

“Once, kid.” Abby brushed her hand over his hair, messing it up as she drew him close. Her scent was family, but he hated how docile it instantly made him. 

“In front of the Alliance building and all the witnesses,” he mumbled, annoyed again. Maybe it was good Nigel wasn’t around. He still needed to tell him how pissed off he was at being publicly claimed. “I could do recon if I knew what he was working on.” 

“Nice try, sport. He’ll let us know when he needs us.” Abby said. 

“You mean he’ll let _you_ know. I’m practically off this team.” He tried to keep the bitterness from his tone, as he slid into the car. He needed to get back on the narcotics that killed the omega tendencies. 

Hoagie and Kuki caught up to them. Hoagie got in the back seat and Abby handed the keys to Kuki before getting into the passenger side. He wasn’t an idiot. They took up this positioning because they figured Hoagie or Abby could catch him if he ran. He stared out the window as they left the parking lot and finally slumped against the seat, bugged to no end. Why keep him around if he was off the team? 

The drive was quiet with Abby and Hoagie both looking at their phone. Wally leaned over the seat to stare at Abby’s screen, but Hoagie cleared his throat and Abby immediately dropped her phone face down. As he suspected, it was a group chat with Nigel, that he wasn’t invited to. He caught _Delightful Teens_ before she hid the screen. He inwardly growled, throwing a glare at Hoagie who only shrugged. 

He dropped back against the seat, staring hard at the road, hoping to see Nigel’s motorcycle. No luck. At least he knew the case involved the Delightful Teens, who were involved with the Teen Ninjas, who railroaded his career path. Payback was in order. Despite what Nigel said, he would get involved.

He pulled his mobile from his pocket and checked all the text messages, already suspecting he wasn’t in the group chat. No surprise there. Two new messages waited, one from his mom to remind him to be home on Friday for Joey’s thirteenth birthday party.   
The second text message came from Joey to remind him to be home Friday.

They made it to HQ, a place they usually only stayed at a couple times a week. The food tasted like cardboard, it lacked privacy and he could feel the bars through the thin mattress. He suspected his omega status and the Teen Ninjas had something to do with them staying here twice in a row. It made him even more irritable. 

They got out of the car and his team flanked him. His anger boiled over. “I’m not some cruddy pup! I ranked second in my fighting classes!”

Second right under Nigel who ranked number one. His breath quickened at the thought of Nigel sparing with the upper classmen when he’d been a freshman. It gave him a semi-chub thinking about how acutely their leader could take the older teens down thanks to his mentor Chad. They’d spent a lot of time together in junior high, which made Wally a little jealous. He pulled his shirt out from his pants to cover his warring reaction over Nigel. This was terrible. 

“Don’t worry about it kid, it happens a lot to recently mated omegas,” Abby said, bringing to the surface what he’d hoped would go unnoticed. 

He rolled his eyes and stopped moving. “I want to go to my house, Abs. I’m serious. I don’t want to spend the night at HQ. Why are we even here? I know what omegas are ranked in this society. I’m old news!” 

“You’re _our news_ , Wally, so keep walking. Nigel has a job to do and he can’t go chasing your silly, bratty butt through the city.” Abby grabbed his arm and dragging him into the building.

 

oOo

 

Nigel updated the paperwork on the Delightful Teens upcoming party. If they had the R.A.G.; Rutting-Alpha-Gas, then this could be a problem for the alphas that made up only thirty percent of the world population. Rutting alphas were a danger to society and anyone who got in the way. An uncontrolled epidemic could be enough to influence legislation to put alphas in encampments. 

If alphas fought the decision, lethal force would be used, and he’d be damned if he lived the rest of his life on the run when he knew the only danger alphas possessed were to the beta agenda. Alphas policed their own. They could control their own. They kept their own in line. 

He printed the report, then turned the computer off. His eyes still ached from the stark computer light. The sudden darkness didn’t ease his growing headache. He needed to eat and pop a couple aspirin. 

He grabbed the paperwork off the printer and moved down the quiet hall, dropping the report on Chloe’s pristine, polished red oak desk. He found no relief in being the last operative present in the office. The silence only allowed his thoughts to circle around mating Wally, his best friend and more than a few times, the subject of his lust. 

He often spent his ruts with little blonds, giving them explicit directions to wear the same bodywash as his hitter; cedarwood and leather. He never felt completely right. The smell was always off, they lacked muscle in all the right places, and they didn’t have that edge to them. He liked that edge. 

Now Wally was his and he couldn’t even enjoy it. The kid resented his omega status, which left their relationship one-sided with Nigel still needing to calm his alpha brain. He was shamefully limited on what he could do to hush his alpha instincts, so he got stuck cuddling his friend after Wally was given his sedative. 

It felt dirty, but it helped with the building frustration. Masturbation sessions throughout the day also helped, but when Wally was close… His knot constantly became semi-inflated and he was ready to take possession over his little hitter; over and over. 

The minute the elevator opened, he moved down the quiet sleeping quarters. All the doors were shut, but not all the rooms were in use. It depended on what teams were called in. Not all the operative teams were as small as his. Rarely a lead was given only four operatives to go into dangerous situations, but until Wally’s designation got out, they thought they were working as an entire alpha unit. 

He pushed their bedroom door open and sniffed the room. Team. Family. Home. 

“He’s asleep. It was a fight, so I crushed the sedative and stuck it in his root beer float. That’s only going to work a couple more times before he catches on,” Abby said. The bed squeaked as she sat upright.

The dark was broken by the nightlight against the wall. He trusted Abby on this, so he took off his school coat and draped it over the bedpost. He kicked off his shoes, tucking them under the bed and wiggled out of his button-down shirt. If he had a stronger grasp on his desire, he would dress completely down and get comfortable. As it wore, he really needed that barrier between his crotch and Wally’s tight little sex channel.

He crawled over Wally, keeping his back against the wall so he could watch the room. It would be another restless night, his mind waking every time Wally sighed or shifted in his sleep. 

“Are your suspicions right? Do the Delightful Dorks from Down the Lane have it?” Abby asked.

“There is enough evidence to say they do. I won’t know for sure until we get in there. The door in the library is armed by a five-digit passcode,” Nigel answered.

“I have a new code detector that should cut down the options by fifty percent in five minutes, but letting it fully run could take fifteen,” Hoagie said.

“Then we just need to work on a way to get inside the estate undetected,” Nigel said. That was easier said than done. The place was huge with a camera in every corner. Sneaking in would not be the easiest task. 

 

oOo

 

“I’m not going to school today.” Wally remained unpleasantly stubborn. He sat with his legs crossed in his little sleep romper. His blond hair brushed the edge of his chin. The sides of his head were still cleanly shaven, making the mohawk more severe. He’d have to get his head shaved again in a couple of weeks, if Nigel allowed it.

“I don’t care what you want. I’m not missing school so get your butt dressed!” Abby growled, tossing her notepad into her backpack and checking to make sure she had all her books. Studying had been next to impossible with the kid constantly going on about wanting to play video games, go get pizza, wanting to watch the cage fights and go down to the shooting range.

“Where’s Nigel?” Wally’s question had an upward slant of open inquisitiveness. 

“Busy! We already went over this! He has a mission he’s doing recon on.” Abby hissed. She crossed the small space, grabbed the blond by the shoulders and yanked him out of bed and against the wall. Any omega would be frightened by the display of alpha aggression. Not Wally. He didn’t try to challenge her, but there wasn’t an ounce of fear in those large green eyes.

“I want my regular classes! I want back on the football, swim and track team! I want to wear normal clothing!” Wally stared her down, chin up and nostrils flaring. His body tensed, ready for the throwdown, but he didn’t try to jerk free. He knew better.

“Do you like spankings?” she threatened. There had to be a tactic that worked with him. The problem with Wally continued to be that he knew how to push buttons and he pushed as far as he could take it. He really didn’t have a stopping point.

He huffed. “Right! Because you really want to break your hand on my ass? I’m not kidding with you Abs. I have one of the strongest asses in the field. I work out so hard, I’d break your fingers in two hits.”

“We can test that theory kid.” She shoved him back around, aiming for the door. The only thing that worked against Wally was his huge ego. A public speaking would be far more thorough than a private bout. 

Hoagie slid in between them. He was clean, dressed and ready to go. His aviator goggles were perched on his head, letting his dark, curly locks embrace them. Now that he lost the weight, he had more confidence, but no less of an interest over technology despite the beta girls that kept flirting with him. “Go get breakfast, Abby. I can handle this.”

She took his offer, because if she stayed a second longer, she’d bite the kid and that would be counterproductive if Wally ended up with two alphas in a matter of days. Still, walking to the kitchen didn’t clear her anger. She pulled out her phone and jotted a quick message to Nigel, whose alarm went off in the wee hours before dawn. He was existing on very little sleep lately.

_Wally is going to be a hell cat today. Still trying to get him dressed. Good chance we’re late for school._

A text shot back. _Keep me updated. If Wally is too much trouble, I’ll come back and get him._

When Hoagie exited the room, Wally was dressed in his school issued jumper, but his hair was spiked. She raised an eyebrow at Hoagie who shrugged and had the sense to look guilty.

“Bribery goes a long way, Abs,” Wally said with the self-righteous ignorance of a preteen as he walked past her, grabbed a soda and PopTart. She opened her mouth to discipline him.

“I uh…. Promised him anything he wanted for breakfast if he behaved,” Hoagie said. 

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “That doesn’t help the cause, Hoagie. He needs discipline, not compromise.”

Hoagie shrugged again, grabbing a PopTart and orange soda. “Hey. It got the job done and no one has a broken hand, right?”

That was a joke, obviously, but she didn’t share the humor. She really had a feeling Wally was going to be a problem today. It was in the air, like the heavy humidity right before a rain. The kid radiated trouble.

 

oOo

 

Wally stood at the door with Abby at his back. The omegas were kind enough, coming up to talk to her, while ignoring him. He was okay with that. He slid his omega shoes off and put them in the cubby and turned to smile and wave at Abby. Hoagie and Kuki were with her and both seemed pleased at his behavior. She continued to glare, excused herself from the clingy, cruddy omegas and stalked over to him. 

“I mean it Wally. You’re going to behave today. You so much as stand without permission, I’ll start taking your privileges away. No more video games, watching your dumbass fights and boy, you ain’t getting pizza for a month!” Her hip was cocked, so she had to be seriously pissed. 

He fought hard not to roll his eyes as he offered up his most sincere smile. He’d never been good at playing coy, and he sure as hell couldn’t pass off as innocent. “Aye-aye! Now can you go. I want to work on the pillow I’m knitting.”

Her frown deepened. “I know you’re bullshitting me. I love you, but so help me, you will behave on my watch.” 

“Okay Abs. Have a good day,” he moved past her to his spot at the table. The music was already on, playing the cruddy classical music that he had no interest in. He didn’t have to wait long because the class bell rang and within seconds, his team was gone. 

Lizzie took her place next to him, with a cup full of some stupid juice drink that smelled super sweet. Her red hair was brushed up into a ponytail and her glasses made her eyes owlishly big. “I heard Nigel hasn’t been around you since he claimed you. Buyer’s remorse?”

Wally huffed. “He’s busy.”

“Really?” She dropped her voice an octave and leaned in like they were transpiring. “Do you think that’s normal for a newly mated pair? I hear alphas won’t leave their new omega mates alone for months. They knot them repeatedly in a day to get them pregnant. Are you already pregnant?”

“ _Pffft._ Lame!” he rolled his eyes to let her know he had no interest in what she was selling. 

“The first time Nigel worked me through my heat, he knotted me at least a dozen times or more. How many times did Nigel knot you?” She continued to press.

“Crikey, you crazy wombat! Enough already.” His outburst cost him a glance from the teacher. He thought he got away with it, but then she came over.

Mrs. Calhoun’s brows were knitted when she bent down to talk to him like he was a five-year-old. “Wally, you are being very loud and disruptive this morning. Are you feeling cranky?”

He gritted his teeth and tried to offer his most sincere smile. It made his face hurt. “I only get cranky when I’m dealing with stupid people.” 

“Wally!” Her short tone was a reprimand as she stood. “You’re going to the timeout corner to think about how you can make today better for yourself.”

He got up and followed her to a group of pillows in the corner and dropped down on them. They weren’t incredibly uncomfortable. He wondered how many timeouts it would take to get sent to the principal’s office and would they have the class aide escort him since he wasn’t supposed to be left unattended. Both class aides were no match for his super field skills. He could easily give them a slip and be out of the building before Nigel or his parents were warned.

God the pillows were super comfortable. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. It was the stupid music that ebbed like a white noise.

The hand on his arm startled him awake. The young aide smiled softly. It was too gentle and all wrong. “It’s time for recess.”

“Okay, yeah. Got it.” God! This couldn’t be his life now, falling asleep on pillows. And it was a waiting game to see if he was right about getting kicked off the team. He’d been kicked out of everything else and the small amount of peace that his friends offered him wasn’t currently there with Nigel not coming around.

He still felt groggy, which helped dull his annoyance at the two guards who now flanked him when they left the class. It probably had to do with him slipping away yesterday. Once they were out on the field, the guards moved back to the shade of a large tree about twenty feet away. The teacher and her aides took a seat at the farthest part of the bleachers. Lizzie and some of the girls sat next to him and he inwardly groaned dropping his head into his hands. He couldn’t take it. He hated omegas. 

“What now?” He growled. 

“My heat is coming so I’m going to ask Nigel to spend it with me. He’ll probably say yes since he told me during my last heat, he could do this forever. You know when my last heat was?” Lizzie asked. Her chin raised a centimeter higher with pride.

He rolled his eyes and dug his nails into his palm bed. “We both know you’re going to tell me rather I like it or not.”

“Two months ago. He was with me that long week. Did you even wonder where he’d been during that time?” she asked. She gave a little flip of her head that made her ponytail bounce. The girls around them chuckled behind their hands, eyes glowing with curiosity. Nigel was a topic of interest with them.

In truth, he sort of wondered and he kind of knew it was probably an omega that kept him busy. He always felt it when Nigel took time away from the group. They were given stupid recon missions that kept them busy, and out of trouble when Nigel was tied up, quite literally. “Good. Hopefully he takes it so you can finally get fucked and stop talking about it all the time. It’s seriously disgusting.”

He glared out at the field. It was currently only freshmen. The security guards were older, one guy looked like he was past retirement by a couple of years, the other two were older, heavier and one walked with a limp. No one on the field worked for the alliance, so they weren’t going to chase him, and anyone present who worked with the Teen Ninjas wouldn’t blow their cover. The only thing he couldn’t rely on, was that someone present wouldn’t want to be a damn hero and stop him from running.

“I know that look. You’re about to do something stupid,” Lizzie glared at him.

Wally rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Lizzie! You don’t know anything about me.”

“Except that you always do stupid things that put your team in danger,” she said, tilting her head knowingly. Maybe Nigel had said something in passing to her when they were cuddled up and warm after a good knotting. 

Low blow. 

He buried is hurt, because that was one thing, he was good at. Now Nigel had a legit reason to retire him. He’d probably get decommissioned and his career with the Alliance would be over. It wasn’t difficult breaking a bond. Lizzie was right about alphas usually staying with their omega right after claiming and Nigel was obviously trying to pass him off to everyone else at every turn. 

Nigel saved him but didn’t want him. 

And that was starting to bug him a bit. Well, he knew when he wasn’t wanted. He just needed to break the ties before they wiped his brain and gave him to another alpha to mate with. He just needed to get home so he could grab his passport and go. He had some hidden cash from a couple of cases he’d done with the Alliance that paid well. 

“Well speak of an angel and he shall appear!” Lynn giggled again, primping her hair. All the omegas on the beach sat a little straighter and called out to the senior and juniors that moved to the basketball court.

He rolled his eyes when he saw his team. They had to be ignoring him on purpose. He shifted in his seat trying to ignore the group playing. The students got rough. It was nothing that surprised him, but he could use that to his advantage.

He stretched his legs out and glanced over at the teachers. They were laughing about something on their phones. The security guards were in a circle discussing the weather for all he cared. The coach wasn’t paying attention to the benched omegas. Why would he? 

Wally saw his opportunity the second the game made it to their side of the court. He jumped up, easily stole the ball and made the shot. Fingers dug into his shoulder forcing him around. 

“What the fuck, Wally?” Jude growled, pupils red and eyes narrowed. 

Exactly who Wally wanted to fuck with. He decked the alpha.

There was no love loss between them. They constantly got into fights on and off the football field. They’d barely been acquaintances back in elementary and tolerated each other in junior high, but high school, they were at each other’s throats. So decking the alpha hurt the hell out of his knuckles, but pleased him to no end. 

There was barely a second between the physical contact and Jude lunging at him. Nigel was suddenly there, shoving him out of the way and catching Jude, easily spinning the alpha around and catching him by the throat with his forearm. The alpha dropped to his knees and Nigel immediately backed off with his point made.

“What the hell, Nigel! If you don’t teach him discipline, I will,” Jude warned. 

“Try it asshole and I’ll drop kick your ass!” Wally barked. Adrenaline raged through his veins. He could taste his pulse. He loved the cage fights; knew he could hold his own. And he did owe Jude for a couple painful pranks.

“I’ll deal with him.” Nigel remained braced at an angle so he could watch both parties. He looked almost neutral, like he didn’t care. 

“You better, Nigel. He’s fucked up. He needs more than discipline; he needs to be rewired!” Jude threw the crazy gesture up. 

Wally snapped, jerking out of Hoagie’s hands and lunging for the man, only to get caught last second by Nigel who instantly shoved him back into Abby this time. Her grip was tighter and more painful around the shoulders and chest. 

Nigel followed them and the security guards to the building door. “I can’t deal with this right now. Get him out of here.”

Again, way too neutral. At least the old Nigel would have yelled at him. He expected a lecture and instead, got handed off to be someone else’s problem. 

“Oh boy! You sure did it this time. The school and a zero-fighting policy, Wally. What were you thinking?” Abby’s lecture was far too motherly. He wanted a lecture from Nigel, though he always hated those longwinded speeches. 

“I’m tired of being ignored and I hate the omega classroom. Why won’t anyone admit that I’m off the team? I don’t want to be jerked around,” he answered.

“I told you, Nigel’s working on the problem this created.” She dropped his butt in the principal office. One guard stayed in the doorway so he couldn’t run. 

 

oOo

 

Nigel stared at his mobile phone wishing he had a camera in the Beatles car and home. He couldn’t relax with Wally out of his sight, which meant, he would have to pull a few strings and get Wally back in the school, and _heaven help him_ , into the AP classes with him. “I never expected his personality to change so drastically.”

“He treats every situation like he’s on the football field. You can never guess with him. That’s why he’s a great hitter and retrieval expert, but he fails horribly at social norms,” Abby hummed into her food, but she was eating slower than usual too.

“This is pretty erratic, even for him,” Nigel continued. That attack had been planned. Everyone knew Jude had a short fuse and the two had a long history of disturbances. 

“Don’t try to figure this one out Nigel. Wally has always been our wildcard.” Abby took a big bite of her sandwich and followed his gaze across the room to Jude sitting with the football team. A bruise started to form under his left eye.

“This isn’t the field, Abs. He purposely caused that fight, threw the first punch and is now getting sent home. I don’t trust his intentions and I don’t trust the Alliance or the Villain League-Teen Coalition.” He shoved his food back into his lunch sack, having thoroughly talked himself into taking the rest of the day off. He hated doing this, especially when he had to study for the university exams. 

“You chasing after your omega, Nigel? Won’t Wally think you’re being a little romantic?” Abby teased.

“He’s up to something. I know it and I hope to God, you know it.” He stood from the lunch table and left the cafeteria.


	8. Chapter 8

Suspended. 

Out of the hands of the school, the Alliance and his team. So why was he still so anxious? His skin felt too tight. Every breath he took felt like very little oxygen got into his lungs.

“I am disappointed in you for starting a fight today,” Sidney, his dad, said as he shut off the engine. Wally reached for the door handle, but his father’s large hand cupped his shoulder, stopping him. “I know being an omega is hard on you. We did you no favors letting you continue to run around like an alpha with your little alpha friends. I’m sorry for that, but you were eventually going to have to face the music.”

“I wouldn’t have to if we were still back home. Omegas have more rights there than they do here in America. I hate it here! I don’t want to be someone’s lap dog. I don’t want to be housebound wondering if my tramp of an alpha is sleeping around with other omegas!” He promptly shut his mouth. 

Had he just admitted that last part out loud? Oh-My-God! He just called Nigel his alpha. He just admitted to being afraid Nigel wanted someone over him. And it was true wasn’t it? Nigel knotted him to save his position with the organization, but he hadn’t been back since. He was stuck in omega classes, tucked away from the team.

“Do you have an alpha?” His dad’s eyes emanated shock.

“No,” Wally growled, shoving the door open and escaping his dad for a hot second. The ache in his wrist went straight up his forearm. He glanced down at the gauze. A couple red spots started to gather on the gauze. He didn’t care if any of the stitches were pulled. It didn’t kill him the first time, it probably wouldn’t do him any favors now.

His father was out of the car and hot on his heels. “If you have an alpha, you need to invite him over so we can meet him. I didn’t even know you were being courted—”

“I don’t have _an_ alpha. Nigel did me a solid and that’s it.” He shoved through the open door, but his father caught his shoulder.

“Nigel? Your best friend Nigel claimed you? I didn’t know the two of you were close.” Sidney said. His eyes trailed to Wally’s neck and then down his arms to his wrists where the white tape could be seen a little past the sweater sleeves. 

“Dad, look! Nigel has a girlfriend. He only did this to keep the Alliance from issuing me an alpha!” And he should be grateful. He really should. Not pissed and ready to shred everything in his path. 

When he jerked free from his dad, he was grateful Sidney allowed it. He ran up the staircase and into his personal space. The room was beautiful because it was his. He threw his backpack on the bed and shoved open his closest. Relief flooded him when he realized nothing in his closet changed yet. No stupid omega outfits yet.

His father’s voice drifted up the stairs. “Yes, with Nigel. Can you believe it? What do we do? … He said Nigel has a girlfriend. Right. Right. Uh-huh. Correct.”

Wally’s head started to ache. His dad probably had his mom on the line, and she would insist Nigel come over for dinner so they can discuss why this was a fake mating. Even worse, they might ask him what his intentions are and if Nigel was going to make an honest omega out of him.

He bunched up the sweater and the effort made pain shoot through his fingers and up into his arms. The nerves screamed out in retribution. At least he could close his fingers completely on his right hand, the hand he chose to deck Jude with. It still made his eyes water and muscles throb when he tried closing his hands around items. The pain was at a seven at best and he’d do anything for a good pain reliever. 

“He doesn’t want to talk about it. Yes. Claimed. You heard that right. They’ve been best friends long enough that a bond would naturally form. No, I don’t think Nigel knows anything about our customs. Wally’s always been reserved about our customs,” Sidney continued, getting closer to the staircase. 

Wally stayed close to the door with a pile of clothes he pulled off the floor. He wiggled out of his omega school uniform and quickly pulled on his jeans and undershirt. There was no way he’d be able to change the bandages on his arms alone, so he decided to keep them for another day until he could find someone on the road to help. It was the same problem with his shoelaces. He couldn’t use his fingers to tie the tiny, flat strands. 

“God, you never should have filled the boy’s heads with such fantastical stories. Wally thinks the grass is green back in our hometown. They deserved to know—”

Wally quickly shut his bedroom door. He refused to let his parents crush his plans. If they weren’t going to help him, he wasn’t going let them get in his head. He shoved a couple things into his backpack, then cracked the door open and listened. His dad was still on the phone, but it was too polite to be his mom. 

“Yes, excellent. Will that work with your schedule? Right.” Sidney said. From the way his voice faded and then grew louder just to fade again, it was apparent he paced. “Right. My wife and me.”

Wally snuck into his parent’s bedroom and straight to his dad’s closet. He picked a dark red flannel shirt that masked his narrow shoulders. He was used to playing this dress-up game, pretending to be an alpha. As much as he hated it, the smell of his alpha father instantly calmed his racing heart. 

He stared at himself in the mirror, making sure that he looked legit. Only partially satisfied, he snuck back out into the hallway, catching the tell end of his father’s conversation.

“… you really deserve an explanation. Yes. Perfect. Goodbye.” His dad hung up the phone and Wally instantly went still when he heard the bottom staircase creak under his father’s weight. “I’m going to work son. Will you be okay?”

“Yeah!” He waited until he heard the front door, then he threw everything in his bag, including his money and passport.

He pulled on shoes without laces and headed down the stairs while pulling his hair into a manbun. He filled his bag with a couple meal replacement bars and made a sandwich, every movement sent a sharp pain through his nerves, a reminder that he tried and failed at ending the torture of being an omega. 

Not for the first time, he wondered how warm and commanding Nigel’s hands must have been, much like the rest of the alpha, guiding their bodies into the moment. How good it must have felt, based solely on the few times his leader and stood behind him, guiding his first attempts at using a gun, or the few fun times they had when Nigel taught him to swim. He startled, unsure how long he’d leaned against the counter, his hand trailing over his stomach. God, he was already turned on.

He pulled his jeans open and took a quick sniff. He wasn’t wet and he didn’t smell like slick, thank god. It was time to get going before his body decided to do something stupid. 

He grabbed his backpack and yanked his keys out of the glass jar by the door. He pulled on his riding goggles and shut the door behind him. He got on his motorcycle, letting go of the gas the second his tendons screamed. Fuck! 

He didn’t have a lot of time. He needed to be on the plane before school got out and Abby came to check on him. He needed to be in the air before his parents were called and then the airport was warned. 

God, he wasn’t asking for much, right?

 

oOo

 

Nigel got to the house and immediately noticed Wally’s motorcycle was gone. Nigel growled under his breath. “Don’t go on the run, Wally.”

He’d just gotten off the phone with a very confused, but surprisingly not angry, Sidney. The man wanted to meet for dinner to talk about his omega son. There was a tinge of guilt in Nigel’s heart. 

He should have warned Sidney that Wally was publicly claimed. He should have let Wally’s family know that he’d tried to commit suicide under duress. Wally had always been unpredictable. Like now. 

He hit the GPS locator app on his mobile device and a little red dot appeared on the map. Wally was on the freeway heading towards the airport. “Come on, Wally. You aren’t that desperate to get away from me, are you?”

He revved his motorcycle, heading out on the street, slowing only when absolutely necessary. There were no backroads to make the trip faster which forced him to take the same route as Wally. He had no doubt in his mind that Wally drove way beyond the speed limit. He’d been in the middle of a hot pursuit with his team and Wally was the only one willing to hike his motorcycle to the limit of its speed gauge to catch their villain. 

Every second mattered on his end and the _what ifs_ kept stockpiling. What if Wally made it on the plane? What if he went into heat without Nigel present? What if someone realized what Wally was and whisked him to an underground omega bordello? 

He fought the constant line of negative thoughts, glad when the airport came into view. The traffic at this time of day was thin. He pulled into the underground garage and parked next to Wally’s hornet yellow motorcycle, up front by the doors. His pulse quickened. He fought the alpha aggression that made him want to charge into the building in search of his omega.

Wally would _never_ understand how much stress he put on this bond. He had no idea what his hitter thought about all of this, had hoped space was the right thing. Apparently, Wally couldn’t go a couple days without rocking the boat on this very fragile tie that was laced with hair trigger impulses. 

The cool air blew over his sweat coated skin as he entered the building with its array of mixed scents; perfumes, body odors, greasy foods, stale cigarette smoke, leather and oiled machinery. The carpet had been freshly shampooed, the scent surprisingly astringent, making his eyes water. Despite all that, he could pick his mate’s scent and a very distinct hint of sourness that he’d mark as fear.

He walked slowly through the small, lingering crowd, keeping the line for the international flight in his sight. Wally looked so cute, so small standing among the other teens. He must have gotten mixed in with a school. His blond hair was spiked, and he stood with his shoulders back and legs braced like the alpha he usually passed for.

He kept checking his watch and looking over his shoulder at the crowd. Nigel slid behind groups, waiting as he timed Wally’s motions. His hitter did the exact same thing every couple of seconds; checked his watch, glanced anxiously at the ticket counter and then glanced at the open space between the doors, expecting company.

Nigel took a breath and slid into the line, feeling every bit the predator. He could cut glass with his ramrod shaft. His knot inflated enough, ready for a quick-lock. It was impressive how the alpha body knew when it’d been slighted by their property—

_Not property! Omega rights! Omega freedom! Can’t forget why you’re fighting so hard for a transfer!_ His alpha brain never would be more revolved than the basic impulse that drove to mating. Wally was his and he wanted every alpha to know this. 

He trained the kid. He helped him study, helped him learn to cook, swim, taught him the ins and outs of securing his place with their organization. There were a lot of rough patches, things he never thought much of, until now, like Wally’s distrust for the government, adults, large groups of alphas, almost every organization and large company. 

He thought Wally’s horrible impulse control had something to do with whatever experience he brought with him from his motherland. He also thought the kid’s extreme loyalty had to do with the honor that came from being a warrior. But he’d be an idiot now to think it had nothing to do with his omega nature. 

It didn’t matter though, because the principal issue, at the moment, was _his_ alpha impulse control. Every thought in his head circled right around to fucking Wally into bliss and back again; the very bloody topic he had to avoid at all costs even with his body screaming to put his omega in his place; under him with a fat knot.

Wally was going to be the death of him. Fighting his instincts made everything physically ache like a sour chemical released itself into his bloodstream. It was unnatural and a typical omega would appreciate the sheer effort it took for him to stay rational. 

“Don’t run.” He warned when he got up behind Wally who had been staring down at his phone, flipping through the messages. 

“Crikey, Nigel. You bloody well scared me,” Wally hissed. His eyes widened; his pupils instantly dilated. He dropped his hand with the phone, but kept the other up, supporting his backpack weight. 

No doubt, his body was now reacting to the pheromones Nigel’s body gave off. He could see it in the way his best friend swayed ever-so-slightly like he’d been thrown off balance by a breeze.

“Don’t test my resolve.” Nigel warned through clenched teeth when Wally made the smallest of movements that bespoke his desire to flee. The very smell of Wally, even hidden behind the alpha family scent, made it hard to control his needs.

“You’re supposed to be in school. How the hell did you even know—” Wally cut off as his attention drifted to the phone in his hand. Understanding instantly bloomed across his face then twisted into annoyance. Still, it did little to deface his beautiful features. 

“You can’t stay here and you sure as hell aren’t getting on the airplane.” Nigel took him by the shoulder and forced him out of the line. 

Wally jerked back, easily breaking the moderate hold. “I’m not going back with you either, Nigel. I decide my fate; not you or the company!”

“Wally, don’t—” Nigel ordered. 

Wally took off running, heading straight for the escalators that lead down to the underground train station. Nigel could feel it in his body, the moment when alpha hunger took root. He raced after Wally, tasting his best friend’s desperation. His body raged with the need to claim and quiet his rowdy companion. 

His knot practically pulsed as the tiny voice in the back of his head encouraged his alpha whims; _knot, claim, quiet the omega._

He caught Wally very well packed backpack against his chest as Wally wriggled free. He dropped the bag and caught his best friend a second time, pulling him to the ground; arms over his head and legs straddling his slim waist. Wally continued to kick and scream, fighting though it had to hurt given how pale he got and how quickly he stopped moving.

“Get off me!” Wally growled with the force of an alpha, but his mannerisms lacked the promise for violence, or maybe, just maybe, he felt what his alpha lead sported, tightly confined in school pants.

Nigel followed Wally’s tongue as it licked worriedly over his lips. His pupils dilated farther, nearly swallowing the green in his irises. They’d been in this position a million times when sparing, and every time, Nigel’s eyes drew straight to his best friend’s sharp, delicate jawline and the way his throat bobbed when he swallowed hard. 

They were getting a crowd and a few alpha men stood to the side, ready to see where this went. The strangers’ intentions were clear; they thought they’d have to intervene. 

“I’m his alpha,” Nigel told the small group getting a little too close for comfort. 

“You better put that little omega in order,” an alpha commented loudly as the group dispersed. 

_No fucking, duh, idiot!_ He wasn’t sure how far Wally would take it in an attempt to gain his freedom. 

Wally immediately blushed. “You’re not my alpha! Stop telling people you are!”

Nigel raised an eyebrow as he finally let his little omega’s wrists go and rolled off Wally. His best friend didn’t immediately move. When he deemed it safe to turn his back on his hitter, he retrieved Wally’s backpack and opened the zipper; passport, more cash than he should be carrying when traveling alone, extra clothes, and a handful of snack bars that were more sugar than substance. 

He rolled his eyes and offered his hand to Wally, who remained glaring from where he sat. “I have no interest in staying here a second longer when I have things that need to be done.”

Nigel pulled the backpack over his shoulders and forced Wally to stand. Once his best friend was inches from him, he yanked his shirt up and slid two fingers into the rim of his jeans, pulling it open enough to let the sweet scent produced from interest, escape from its prison. Yeah, if his hitter’s much smaller hardness wasn’t indication enough, the kid smelled excited. 

“What the hell are you doing, you nut job!” Wally slapped at his hands. If only Wally would ask.

“Making sure you didn’t do something irreparable while you were out of my sight,” Nigel answered. He wanted to coat his tongue with Wally’s slick and do all the naughty, dirty as sin things he didn’t dare do when he had marked Wally to save him from HQ. 

_Please just ask, kiddo and I will gladly give it to you. You just need to ask._ Of course it never came. Instead, Wally adjusted his clothes, but the blush sharpened over his cheeks.

“You’re an asshole,” Wally growled, falling into step beside him as they walked out of the building to where their motorcycles waited. 

He caught his best friend before Wally could try and slide onto his bike. “I’ll send someone to get it once school’s out.”

Wally just glared at him. “Anything else about my freedom you’d like to clip? Maybe cap me in the leg? That would be fitting, right?”

Nigel fought the chuckle that rumbled through his chest. Wally was feisty on the best of days. On the worse, he was abrasive, but nothing would ruin his good mood now that his omega was safely within his reach. “We have a couple of errands and again, I can’t chase you through the city. You want your freedom, you’re going to have to earn my confidence because clearly, you can’t be trusted.” 

He grabbed Wally’s helmet off his bike and shoved it at him, before putting on his own. He thought the argument would continue. Wally was like a dog with a bone. He never let it go, but to his surprise, his hitter took his backpack back, then circled his arms, rather loosely around Nigel’s waist; mostly given his severe injury, but also, because his hitter was very aware what sparks flew between them. 

When Nigel stopped, it was in front of a bank. Wally got off first, clearly confused when Nigel reached out and steadied him. His eyes were green again, his pupils back to a normal size. 

“What are we doing at a bank?” Wally pulled his helmet off and sat it on top of the seat they abandoned. 

“Starting you a bank account. That’s too much money for you to have sitting in the house. What is it? A couple thousand?” Nigel asked.

Wally’s eyes narrowed and his tone turned sharp again. “I don’t want a bank account. An alpha will have to cosign for me!”

“Right. That’s why I’m here.” Nigel wrapped an arm around his hitter’s shoulders and nudged him towards the tinted glass doors.

“You’re not my alpha!” Wally snapped, clearly on his last nerve. 

Nigel smiled, patient as a teacher. “Given our numerous witnesses, the state has to recognize our union. So yes, Wally, I am your alpha. You’re getting the account because I’m not going to let someone steal all that money from you.”

“Jesus, Nigel! Jesus Christ!” Wally ran a hand through his hair, clearly forgetting he gelled it and cursed again when his fingers got stuck in the sweaty mess that became of the tangle from wearing his helmet twice. 

Nigel pulled him close. When his hitter fought his first attempt at coddling him, he placed a hand on the back of his best friend’s neck and forced his nose into the space between his shoulder and neck. Wally’s body remained tense. This had been so much easier when he’d been stricken with his heat. “I know. I ruined your chance at running away.”

As much as Wally didn’t want to hear it, wanted to turn a completely blind eye to his situation, he was an omega who needed guidance. In return, if Nigel happened to be lucky, maybe Wally would ask to be mated sooner rather than later. 

 

oOo

 

Wally sat in the booth staring at the bank slip, pissed that he put four thousand dollars into an account that he now couldn’t touch without the permission of the alpha who cosigned for it. Said alpha looked pretty damn smug. It must be great being Nigel Uno, top dog in the agency and at school. 

A smile from him and the omegas were dropping their cute little frilly panties. His leader probably thought it’d be the same for him as an omega. He’d just roll over and follow directions better now that his secret was out. 

“Do you want to start with drinks?” The waitress undressed Nigel with her eyes. She twisted a strand of hair around her finger and offered a flirty smile. 

“If you’re so knot hungry, just ask him. All the omegas at our school do,” Wally growled, pulling his water closer as he turned his attention to the wall. He couldn’t stand watching these omegas go so nuts over his leader.

Nigel coughed, embarrassed. “Uh, we’re waiting for people.”

“Lizzie’s heat is coming,” Wally said, not looking up from his slip of paper. It took him a decade to save that much money. Not only that, Nigel held his passport. At this point, it’d be easier going to a dealer to get a new one instead of going through the proper channels. 

“That’s the thing with heats and ruts. They have a cycle that keeps repeating.” Nigel tried for humor, though his tone was strained. 

Wally glanced over at his long-time friend. Nigel’s jaw clenched and unclenched. He was pissed.

“Omegas are disgusting,” Wally hissed under his breath shaking his head. The girl had no shame staring so openly at them. He checked his watch, wondering when the rest of the team would get there so he could eat and finally be allowed to escape to bed.

“How long would you be in your town before your money ran out? How long before your heat hit?” Nigel asked. His tone remained alarmingly calm, though his annoyance echoed through. 

Wally grew agitated. He shifted in his seat then forced himself to meet those gray eyes that studied him far too knowingly. It wasn’t fair that Nigel could remember their first time and he could not. Was he just too annoying? Too inexperienced? “What would it matter to you?” 

“A great deal,” Nigel answered, truthfully. 

Wally rolled his eyes, suddenly wishing the waitress would come back and distract his leader from his line of questioning. “Yeah? When you’re done dealing with your harem?”

Nigel’s eyes narrowed. “You keep insinuating—” 

“Nigel! Wally!” Bikkie, his mother took the seat in front of him.

He immediately sat upright, suddenly embarrassed that he had to face his parents on the subject of getting knotted by his best friend. His mother looked ecstatic. Thank God, Joey wasn’t present. The last thing he needed was his alpha brother throwing a testosterone fit. 

“Nigel, we’re thrilled you took it upon yourself to make an honest omega out of our son,” his mom said. Her hazel eyes took them both in, but the pride he saw in her made him blush. “It’s my fault he’s behaved like this so long. I fear stories from our hometown has done him no favors.” 

“I was making it fine on my own. I didn’t make waves,” Wally grumbled, ready for the world to swallow him whole. There had to be a way out of this hell. 

The waitress came back and Nigel ordered a chocolate milkshake for Wally to go with his hash browns and eggs. He wouldn’t let Wally get a word in edge wise to the waitress again. She returned with the drinks, far too bold when she accidently touched Nigel’s hands.

“Get a room already!” Wally snapped. 

Nigel caught him and forced him back in his seat, hand on the back of his neck, gently massaging. It made him hot as hell. His leader leaned in so his lips were against the cusp of Wally’s ear. “I can relieve your stress. Just ask.”

Wally quickly shifted his weight and Nigel dropped his hand. He instantly missed that touch, which made him aware that he was no more dignified than the stupid waitress and every other omega that lurked, begging for Nigel Uno’s knot. Not him! He was above it! He was above that stupid omega desire. 

“Is the paperwork in order?” Sidney asked, putting his napkin on his lap and taking up his silverware. 

Wally blinked. The table went about its business as if Nigel comforting him had meant nothing. The only person this bothered was him. 

“I’m making it official in the summer with school out of the way. Maybe we’ll get blessed at that time with a pup,” Nigel said, not missing a beat. His best friend threw him a grin that hardly looked fake. In fact, it was rather hopeful.

Wally choked on his milkshake. It didn’t calm his raging nerves. Did Nigel just mention they’d be trying for a pup? That was opposite what he wanted for himself. He really did have to find the money so he could get a fake passport, or he could try and steal his passport back. Stealing was a great option.

“A pup would really calm him down and give him something to do,” Bikkie said. 

“Do I get a choice in this? I don’t even like children.” Wally mumbled, quickly losing his appetite. Plus, children would tie him down and he wasn’t going to be raising his best friend’s children while Nigel ran through town having his fun.

Nigel shoved a couple more chips into his mouth. He sat like he always did in a business meeting, stiff and acutely alert. “I’m getting him reinstated in school.”

Wally snorted. “Fat chance. You try and I’ll punch you in front of the students, next time.”

Nigel raised an eyebrow. “You would risk the consequences of your actions? I thought you’d want to play this a little more cautiously.”

“Wally,” Bikkie’s sharp tone made his attention drift back to her. That look made him shut his mouth. He knew better than to act up in front of his parents. 

The conversation between his parents and Nigel remained embarrassing. They talked about his medical history, when he presented, and the suppressant brands he used to keep from going into heat. The side glance he got from Nigel said his leader knew he was on stronger medications than his parents knew. 

Wally turned his attention back to his food because it gave him something to stare at. He couldn’t stand the conversation around him like he was a pet. He sighed, miserable. 

That misery on grew worse when the waitress left her phone number with Nigel and no one at the table told her it was inappropriate. 

“I need to use the bathroom,” Wally mumbled, wanting space from Nigel. No such luck. Nigel followed him.


End file.
